{"id":531265,"date":"2026-03-10T15:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T15:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/531265\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T15:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T15:14:11","slug":"nrl-2026-ezra-mam-named-to-start-for-the-broncos-in-crucial-clash-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/531265\/","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":531266,"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":{"0":"post-531265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-alex-johnston","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","12":"tag-back-row","13":"tag-bathurst","14":"tag-ben-hunt","15":"tag-brian-kelly","16":"tag-brisbane-broncos","17":"tag-broncos","18":"tag-cooper-cronk","19":"tag-eels","20":"tag-ezra-mam","21":"tag-fletcher-sharpe","22":"tag-foot-injury","23":"tag-getty-images-inc","24":"tag-hamstring-injury","25":"tag-heamasi-makasini","26":"tag-injuries","27":"tag-interchange-bench","28":"tag-ivan-cleary","29":"tag-jack-hetherington","30":"tag-jack-williams","31":"tag-jayden-sullivan","32":"tag-josh-addo-carr","33":"tag-key-men","34":"tag-massive-club","35":"tag-max-plath","36":"tag-melbourne","37":"tag-michael-maguire","38":"tag-national-rugby-league","39":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","40":"tag-new-south-wales","41":"tag-newswire-sport","42":"tag-nrl","43":"tag-oceania","44":"tag-parramatta-eels","45":"tag-penrith-panthers","46":"tag-rabbitohs","47":"tag-ray-stone-inc","48":"tag-right-edge","49":"tag-robert-toia","50":"tag-round-two","51":"tag-sandon-smith","52":"tag-season-opener","53":"tag-shawn-blore","54":"tag-sports","55":"tag-starting-side","56":"tag-team-lists","57":"tag-teen-sensation","58":"tag-thumb-injury","59":"tag-tigers","60":"tag-tom-jenkins","61":"tag-try-scoring-record","62":"tag-veteran-winger","63":"tag-victoria","64":"tag-wests-tigers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531265","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=531265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}