Sydney Roosters enforcer Spencer Leniu has been accused of clashing with Brisbane players including Ezra Mam at a team hotel just hours after being slapped with a formal complaint of a racial slur by the Broncos star.
While the Roosters prevailed 20-10 in their historic match against the Broncos in Las Vegas on Sunday AEDT, the result was soured by the alleged slur, which came after players from both sides had a heated on-field confrontation.
‘Ezra has made a formal complaint,’ referee Adam Gee said to the Roosters after the scuffle. ‘It’s racial in nature against Spencer. I haven’t heard it. The incident goes on report and it will be dealt with after. That’s where it’s at.’
In audio from the match broadcast, Mam is heard telling referee Gee, ‘He called me a monkey.’ Another Broncos player also says, ‘He called him a monkey.’
Gee then asked Mam if he wanted to make a formal complaint, to which Mam responded, ‘Yes I do.’
Brisbane Broncos five-eighth Ezra Mam makes a formal complaint of a racial slur to referee Adam Gee during their clash with the Sydney Roosters
Broncos players, led by centre Kotoni Staggs, rushed in to defend Mam after the alleged comment from Roosters player Spencer Leniu
Now it has been reported that Leniu once again clashed with Broncos players in a corridor of the Vegas hotel where both teams were staying.
The Sydney Morning Herald has revealed that both teams have confirmed the altercation, but insisted it was verbal in nature.
It has been reported that Leniu first clashed with Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs before Patrick Carrigan and Mam came out of a team room to see what was happening.
Following the match, Leniu offered a bizarre response when asked about the racial slur on the field.
‘I think it’s all fun and games when we’re on the field. That’s it,’ he said.
When pressed further on whether he was worried about the potential fallout, Leniu replied: ‘Not worried at all’.
Indigenous South Sydney half Cody Walker called out Leniu on social media, sharing the image of that interview with the caption: ‘Fun and games they reckon gammin’.
Gammin or gammon is an Aboriginal word that means fake, cheap or broken.
Indigenous South Sydney Rabbitohs star Cody Walker called out Leniu for his post-match comments about the incident
A host of current and former NRL players including Latrell Mitchell and Reece Walsh posted message of support for Mam
Indigenous South Sydney star Latrell Mitchell also supported the Broncos half following the incident, posting: ‘I stand with you bala @ezra,mam. @NRL better deal with this s**t’.
Mam’s superstar teammate Reece Walsh also supported the half following the incident, posting: ‘Got you always my brother’.
Following the match, Broncos coach Kevin Walters said Mam was visibly upset over the incident.
‘He’s pretty upset in there, but we’ll leave that in the hands of the NRL to police and adjudicate on,’ Walters said.
Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters said that Mam was upset over the incident after the match at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas
Leniu clashed with Brisbane Broncos players at their team hotel later in the night after the alleged on-field incident
‘We support Ezra and our player with everything around that. He’s adamant. We’ll leave it with the NRL. They’re looking at it.
‘We don’t accept that in our club, certainly. It’s not our doing. We won’t take any more questions on it except we support Ezra in every way. We respect the NRL, and they’ll deal with it.’
Roosters coach Trent Robinson did not want to be drawn on the issue.
There’s no comment from me about it, I don’t know what happened,’ he said.
‘Ezra is adamant, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. He made the complaint, it doesn’t mean it’s right. It will go through formal process as it should.’
