Defending National Rugby League premiers Brisbane Broncos are fighting to rescue their disappointing season, and that fight has forced head coach Michael Maguire to make a difficult call: dropping star five-eighth Ezra Mam from the starting lineup ahead of this weekend’s critical clash against the Gold Coast Titans.
Maguire has made it clear that the decision to move Mam to an extended reserves bench, promoting 23-year-old playmaker Tom Duffy into the starting halves combination for Saturday’s Suncorp Stadium showdown, is rooted purely in recent on-field form, not personal preference or locker room tension. The premiership-winning playmaker has struggled through a rocky start to the 2024 season, currently sitting atop the league’s rankings for most missed tackles and failing to deliver the dynamic attacking output that helped the Broncos claim the premiership last year. His poor form came to a head last weekend, when Brisbane suffered a humiliating home loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons — a side that had yet to register a win all season heading into the round.
Beyond his spot in the Broncos side, Mam’s demotion also puts his place in the Queensland Maroons squad for the upcoming State of Origin II match on June 17 in serious jeopardy.
In a press conference outlining his team selection, Maguire pushed back against any suggestion that the axing was a disciplinary move or a sign he has lost confidence in the star playmaker. “You make decisions around what you feel is right for the team. Obviously, Ezra’s been going through a rough patch with his form, and Tom Duffy has been turning out strong, consistent performances in reserve grade,” Maguire explained. “I’ve always believed that when a player is performing well, they deserve an opportunity to prove themselves at the top level. This is just a rough patch that Ezra is going through right now. He’s gone back to the training ground and has been working incredibly hard to fix his errors.”
The coach noted that form slumps are a normal part of every elite athlete’s career, and how Mam responds to this setback will ultimately define his contribution to the team for the rest of the season. “Every player may go through that, or will go through that, at some stage in their career. It’s all about how you respond,” he said. “He’s fine with the call, he understands why I made it. I’m always very transparent about what I expect from the players, and to be honest, he knows his own game better than anyone. That self-awareness is a good thing.
“This is just a chance for him to step back, put in the work in training, and get back to the level of play that we know ‘Ez’ is capable of. He’s a quality player … that’s exactly why he’s still in the match day squad on the bench. We’ll see how the game unfolds, and he’ll be ready if we need him.”
Brisbane will already be missing two key players for Saturday’s clash: forward Pat Carrigan and utility back Gehamat Shibasaki, both sidelined with injury. Maguire is demanding a marked improvement from his side after the insipid performance against the Dragons that extended their losing run to four straight games, leaving the side at serious risk of tumbling out of the top eight finals race if they drop to five consecutive defeats.
After the final whistle against the Dragons, star prop Payne Haas publicly called out his side’s lack of effort and fight, a criticism that Maguire says he fully supports. “I have no issue with what Payne said. We all share the same belief in this group, we all know what this team is capable of, but at the end of the day, you have to go out and show that on the field,” Maguire said. “We’ve had glimpses of our best form over the last couple of months, but we haven’t been able to put it together week in, week out. That’s the problem we have to fix, and we need to fix it fast. I know this group is capable of playing far better than we have been recently.”