Eels lose injured skipper
The Broncos have backed Ezra Mam to handle a showdown against the Roosters after he was racially abused by Tricolours prop Spencer Leniu in Las Vegas, as the five-eighth prepares to make a swift return from injury on Friday night.
Mam ran strongly at training on Tuesday and is set to return from a finger injury after a oneweek layoff – putting the pivot on a collision course with the Roosters at Suncorp Stadium.
Mam’s last meeting with the Roosters was marred by a racism scandal, when Leniu called the Broncos playmaker a “monkey” in a dramatic season opener in Las Vegas.
Broncos coach Kevin Walters initially expected Mam to miss the Roosters clash, but the sight of the pivot running freely at training has lit the fuse for another spicy clash between the two glamour clubs.
Leniu later confronted Mam at the team hotel in Las Vegas and threatened to physically attack his Broncos rival before being restrained by a Roosters official.
Cleared of major hand damage, Mam will take on the Roosters without Leniu, whose eight-game suspension ends after round eight, and Brisbane skipper Adam Reynolds is confident there won’t be another racism drama.
“It’s another game for us,” Reynolds said.
“It is the job of you guys (in the media) to build it up and talk it up. We know that is part of the game and everything that comes with it but we have moved past it and addressed it as a club.
“For us it is another opportunity to play our brand of football and get better.”
In the wake of the LeniuMam saga, Reynolds took a strong stance on racism in rugby league.
Asked if he was disappointed with the Roosters’ conduct in the round 1 opener, which Brisbane lost 20-10, Reynolds said: “We don’t want to keep going down this road.
“It has been dealt with from both ends – our club, their club and the NRL.”
The Broncos have received a twin boost, with Selwyn Cobbo also training alongside Mam in a promising sign the strike centre is recovering well from a shoulder injury.
While Cobbo wore a red nocontact bib, the Queensland Origin hopeful will undergo a fitness test on Thursday.
Parramatta’s season from hell just got a whole lot worse, with inspirational captain Clint Gutherson to miss up to five weeks after he underwent a minor operation on his knee.
The Eels are languishing in 14th and are without influential halfback Mitchell Moses, who is likely to be out for at least another month following surgery on a fractured foot.
They’ve struggled in attack, and losing Gutherson may be the final straw for a Parramatta side that looks set to miss the finals for the second year in a row as pressure mounts on coach Brad Arthur.
They were much better in the first half against Manly but fell away in the final 15 minutes with Maika Sivo in the sin bin.
Gutherson is one of the fittest players in the league but required surgery last season after giving absolutely everything he could on the field.
He spoke in the pre-season and said his body has never felt better, with the Eels likely to turn to rookie Blaize Talagi to fill in at fullback.
“I had a bit of a modified preseason for me which has been good,” Gutherson said.