PLAYER Ezra Mam

[Mr Fourex]

Ezra was at the fan day on Sunday in full traditional cultural dress. Getting his photo with kids. It was great to see. He looked happy.

Are you suggesting he was stoned...?

 

[Harry Sack]

I get that we're all carrying some Milford trauma however I'm a bit more confident with Mam given he's surrounded by quality teammates. Everyone will be gassing him up. On top of that, I think if anyone can instil an 'us vs everyone' mentality it's Madge, and that is what Mam will need to take on. I would agree with you if he had a passive/submissive coach like Kevvy, Seibold, etc.

I get the Milf trauma...I have it ffs, but while a big portion of the blame goes to him a chunk needs to go to the club IMO. Trying to turn him into something he wasn't, an organising half was always a risky endeavor. It also massively took away from his natural game...running.

 

[Manofoneway]

I get the Milf trauma...I have it ffs, but while a big portion of the blame goes to him a chunk needs to go to the club IMO. Trying to turn him into something he wasn't, an organising half was always a risky endeavor. It also massively took away from his natural game...running.

I guess we are just questioning if Mams 2023 was an anomaly. In 2024 we got to see him play without Reyno and Walsh and it was pretty uninspiring. He's not a lowly min wager anymore and he needs to be earning his 800k contract. Being good because of Walsh and Reyno is probably not going to cut it for the wage he is on.

 

[Harry Sack]

I guess we are just questioning if Mams 2023 was an anomaly. In 2024 we got to see him play without Reyno and Walsh and it was pretty uninspiring. He's not a lowly min wager anymore and he needs to be earning his 800k contract. Being good because of Walsh and Reyno is probably not going to cut it for the wage he is on.

I'm right there with everyone when it comes to Ezra, I have genuine concerns. I don't want to take too much out of 24 as I think the whole Spencer thing got to him more than he let on...not just the incident itself but the fallout from Spencer fans etc. I was more addressing the Milford trauma comment in my post.

I guess it sort of rolls in to the Ezra situation though. Do we really want to take away from Ezra's running game? I imagine the hope is that Black will come in and be the controlling, structured half.

 

[Skathen]

I wouldn't be quick to judge on '24 - lots of players were fronting up to games and playing injured because - there was just no firepower left to send. There were points last year were we had up to what like 10 people scratched?

Madden was a train wreck. All the pressure fell to Mam to wow everyone and he didn't live up to it. He would get tackled hard and spend the next two sets limping.

He's not a game manager yet - and that's OK. Last thing we need is for people to push him to be something he's not. He's a running half - there's a place for that in the modern game. Let him just be good at that for a few years.

 

[Manofoneway]

I wouldn't be quick to judge on '24 - lots of players were fronting up to games and playing injured because - there was just no firepower left to send. There were points last year were we had up to what like 10 people scratched?

Madden was a train wreck. All the pressure fell to Mam to wow everyone and he didn't live up to it. He would get tackled hard and spend the next two sets limping.

He's not a game manager yet - and that's OK. Last thing we need is for people to push him to be something he's not. He's a running half - there's a place for that in the modern game. Let him just be good at that for a few years.

The coach got judged pretty harshly if that was the case.. Cant have it both ways, injuries are injuries and they happen. If we are saying there's no excuse for Kev, there is also no excuse for Mam. He's highly paid, it was his first test and he failed to fire. The hesitation around him is warranted, particularly after grubbing it up in the off season.

 

[BroncsFan]

You mean surrounded by two quality halves for 2 years. Then after that he is supposed to be the man and I don't think he has it in him to assume leadership of the team. When Reynolds and Hunt retire, I feel we are going to need to go to the market for an experienced half to guide the team around unless Black is the next wonder kid (he could be but **** me its a lot of pressure to put on a kid)

My hope would be Walsh being the new 'experienced half' but just doing it from fullback. He'll be nearing or beyond 100 games by 2027 by then.

For a period Lockyer was the main man from fullback, before he got shifted to five eight.