SAD NEWS: About a minute ago Brisbane Broncos Star…
Electric five-eighth Ezra Mam will play his 50th NRL game in a near full-strength Broncos outfit for Saturday night’s heavyweight clash with the second-placed Sharks at Suncorp Stadium.
Kangaroo centre Kotoni Staggs will return from a rib injury to bolster a Brisbane line-up that has been named with all of the club’s State Of Origin representatives from tomorrow night’s opening round of the series in Sydney.
Those four players – Reece Walsh, Pat Carrigan, Selwyn Cobbo and Payne Haas – will all have to be cleared on Thursday afternoon, but will take their place if fit against the Sharks in a best-case scenario for Broncos Coach Kevin Walters
Mam, a Broncos Academy graduate, lines up for his 50th top grade game for the club after debuting against the Knights in Round 11, 2022.
The 21-year-old, who committed to the Broncos until the end of the 2029 season by signing a five-year contract extension earlier this year, has been in sparkling form in 2024.
He has spent the past week in Queensland camp after being named as 19th man for the Maroons, having racked up seven tries, nine try assists and 10 line break assists so far this season.
Reece Walsh was initially slated to line-up at fullback having played in Origin on Wednesday but his game was cut short by the brutal tackle that saw the Blues go down to 12 men. He will now need to sit out here but Payne Haas, Selwyn Cobbo and Patrick Carrigan could all back up.
Starting 13: 1. Reece Walsh 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Selwyn Cobbo 5. Deine Mariner 6. Ezra Mam 7. Jock Madden 8. Corey Jensen 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan Bench: 14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Xavier Willison 16. Kobe Hetherington 17. Jack Gosiewski Reserves: 18. Joshua Rogers 19. Fletcher Baker 20. Blake Mozer 21. Martin Taupau 22. Josiah Karapani 23. Tristan Sailor 24. Jaiyden Hunt
