Broncos won't sack Ezra Mam despite police charges, declares Michael Maguire
New Broncos coach Michael Maguire has declared that Ezra Mam will not be sacked despite being charged by police, with the club to offer its support to the embattled playmaker.
Having sought external support, Mam will finish his stay in rehab in the coming days but faces uncertainty at Red Hill with potential suspensions and fines still to be handed out by the NRL.
On Wednesday, Mam was charged by Queensland Police with one count of driving while a relevant drug was present in his blood and one count of driving a motor vehicle without a licence.
He was also issued a traffic infringement notice for failing to maintain control of a vehicle.
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Broncos coach Michael Maguire. Nine
Mam was arrested last month following a head-on collision with a car being used as an Uber. He was allegedly under the influence of drugs and driving without a valid licence.
The 21-year-old will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on December 16.
Mam is one season into the five-year contract he signed in February, worth $4 million.
The matter has been referred to the NRL integrity unit but the league's no-fault stand-down policy is unlikely to be applied.
This is the case as the policy is only applied for police charges that would incur a maximum prison sentence of 11 years or more.
The NRL is yet to address the charges against Mam but reports indicate he may be suspended by the league for up to 12 weeks.
Speaking to 4BC's Wide World of Sports, Maguire revealed that Mam has not played his last game for the club.
"No, he hasn't," he said on Thursday.
"We are working through things and I am working with the organisation around the whole situation.
"We need to make sure we are slow about our decisions because we have to see everything for what it is.
"It's a big incident and it's not taken lightly, but Ezra is working on himself and making sure he is going through his process.
"We will need to connect with everyone who has been involved in that accident."
Uber driver Marcel Van Den Camp, 64, and a four-year-old girl who was a passenger were injured in the crash.
Van Den Camp suffered serious bruising while the young girl fractured her hip in the collision. The mother of the child also sustained minor injuries.
Maguire confirmed that the club would back Mam on the forthcoming journey.
Ezra Mam flick passes the ball to Broncos teammate Adam Reynolds. Bradley Kanaris via Getty Images
"Culture makes great organisations so we have to all take ownership for what's going on," Maguire said.
"Moving forward we will be steady and slow about our decision but we need to make sure as an organisation we take the incident and make sure we grow from that.
"That's the last thing we want to be around, is something like that.
"We have to go through the process, the charges have come out and Ezra is working on himself.
"It then goes to the NRL and they and the Broncos will deal with the situation. It will be what it will be, but we have to change where we have been as a club and use this moment in time to improve and build the culture on what we want it to be."
Maguire hopes the star five-eighth will resurrect his career through the appropriate pathway.
"I've been in the game for a long time and [have] seen many players go through many different situations," he said.
"People will make mistakes but they've also got to own them. That's the big thing.
"If Ezra owns where he's at … his actions moving forward are very important.
"He's getting some help. When he works through that, I'll get some time with him and assess how everything's going."