{"id":531187,"date":"2026-03-10T14:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/531187\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T14:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:16:14","slug":"nrl-2026-ezra-mam-named-to-start-for-the-broncos-in-crucial-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/531187\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Ezra Mam named to start for the Broncos in crucial clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ezra Mam has been rushed back into the starting side for Brisbane as the reigning premiers look to bounce back from their uninspiring 26-0 loss to Penrith last week.<\/p>\n

Coach Michael Maguire pulled a late switch by starting veteran Ben Hunt and moving Mam to the bench against the Panthers, but he\u2019s named his dynamic five-eighth and should start him there against the Eels.<\/p>\n

They take on an Eels side that could get speedster Josh Addo-Carr back from a thumb injury after the veteran winger was named following just one week on the sidelines. <\/p>\n

Brian Kelly drops to the reserves after a poor defensive display in Melbourne, while Jack Williams stars at prop and Kelma Tuilagi gets a crack in the back row with J\u2019maine Hopgood out suspended.<\/p>\n

The Panthers remain without rep forward Liam Martin (calf) in a big blow ahead of their return to Bathurst this weekend, with coach Ivan Cleary keeping Tom Jenkins on the wing which sees Izack Tago named on the interchange. <\/p>\n

The Roosters have received a major boost with Maroons rookie Robert Toia cleared to return from a foot injury as he and the right edge look to stop Alex Johnston from breaking the try-scoring record.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019ll be without enforcer Spencer Leniu who suffered a hamstring injury in the warm-up last week, while the Bunnies have brought in Jayden Sullivan to replace halfback Ashton Ward (ankle).<\/p>\n

Teen sensation Heamasi Makasini will start at centre for the Wests Tigers when they open their 2026 campaign at Leichhardt Oval against a Cowboys side that could be forced into a late change on the wing if Braidon Burns loses at the judiciary.<\/p>\n

Jack Hetherington could make his Storm debut after he was named on the bench for the trip to Wollongong, while edge forward Shawn Blore could make a return after injury kept him out of their season opener.<\/p>\n

Sandon Smith gets the nod at five-eighth with Fletcher Sharpe out injured for the Knights, while the Dolphins welcome back two key men with Max Plath and Ray Stone listed on the interchange bench.<\/p>\n

Originally published as Team lists: Ezra Mam returns to the Broncos starting side as the Wests Tigers unleash teenage freak<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ezra Mam has been rushed back into the starting side for Brisbane as the reigning premiers look to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[4558,64,63,689,24013,81870,21686,4560,4428,5366,11101,30241,21683,10744,18724,2105,4517,263821,12979,7289,5098,4474,4508,14872,4451,203154,263819,15903,647,6407,761,762,673,43961,158,677,9112,4598,1654,263820,263817,4542,184338,4571,33195,4488,85,49980,28056,82758,86997,13338,26121,263816,263818,660,4515],"class_list":["post-531187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-alex-johnston","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-back-row","tag-bathurst","tag-ben-hunt","tag-brian-kelly","tag-brisbane-broncos","tag-broncos","tag-cooper-cronk","tag-eels","tag-ezra-mam","tag-fletcher-sharpe","tag-foot-injury","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-hamstring-injury","tag-heamasi-makasini","tag-injuries","tag-interchange-bench","tag-ivan-cleary","tag-jack-hetherington","tag-jack-williams","tag-jayden-sullivan","tag-josh-addo-carr","tag-key-men","tag-massive-club","tag-max-plath","tag-melbourne","tag-michael-maguire","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-south-wales","tag-newswire-sport","tag-nrl","tag-oceania","tag-parramatta-eels","tag-penrith-panthers","tag-rabbitohs","tag-ray-stone-inc","tag-right-edge","tag-robert-toia","tag-round-two","tag-sandon-smith","tag-season-opener","tag-shawn-blore","tag-sports","tag-starting-side","tag-team-lists","tag-teen-sensation","tag-thumb-injury","tag-tigers","tag-tom-jenkins","tag-try-scoring-record","tag-veteran-winger","tag-victoria","tag-wests-tigers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}