NRL probes star Broncos duo over incident at Bali nightspot
The NRL integrity unit and the Brisbane Broncos are investigating a late-night incident at a Bali nightspot involving Broncos superstars Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam.
A complaint has been lodged with head office and the Broncos over the alleged behaviour of the star duo towards a fan seeking a selfie with the Brisbane No.1.
Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam in a photo taken three days ago and captioned “Just a little quiet time…”Credit: Reece Walsh's Instagram
It is alleged the fan tried to take a selfie with Walsh before Mam intervened and took the phone from him.
The NRL integrity unit confirmed it was aware of the complaint and is investigating.
The Broncos said they were aware of the incident but declined to comment.
Sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity given the matter is under investigation, said Walsh and Mam spent the day drinking with a group of Australians from the Sutherland Shire. One of the members of the group was repeatedly filming and photographing Walsh throughout the day.
Later that night, another member of the group apologised to Mam for his friend’s behaviour and suggested he should try and take the phone off him. Mam attempted to do so and the phone was dropped and lost.
The father of the owner of the phone emailed a complaint to the NRL, demanding his son’s phone – which had allegedly been damaged – be replaced by Mam. He allegedly issued an ultimatum that if the phone wasn’t replaced, the incident would end up in the headlines.
Mam has since paid for a replacement phone.
“The damaged phone was simply an accident within a heavily populated nightclub in Bali,” the pair’s manager Nash Dawson told the Herald.
“A person’s phone was dropped and damaged, to which that person has asked for the player to pay for the damages and the player has already paid it.”
News of the incident came on an already dramatic day for the Broncos after former coach Kevin Walters fronted the media for the first time since it was announced he was parting ways with the club. Walters had two more years under contract, but the parties agreed to sever ties after a disappointing 12th-placed finish.
As well as appointing a new coach, the club is also dealing with suggestions that the popularity of the players off the field is becoming a distraction. The Courier-Mail has reported that extra security has been employed to chaperone the players outside of training, and that Walsh once returned to his Dodge Ram ute after a session to find a female fan sitting in his vehicle holding flowers and a gift.
Walters’ exit comes just 12 months after he led the Broncos to the grand final, a game they came agonisingly close to winning before Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary orchestrated a remarkable comeback victory.
A tearful Walters, who will remain at the Broncos as an ambassador, spoke for less than two minutes while addressing reporters at Red Hill.
“I was fortunate enough to play here as a player and then in the last four years as the head coach, I’ve been an assistant coach here as well, so my time here has been very joyful,” Walters said.
“I’ve got to say a lot of my time here has been good times. Like everyone, you have your dry moments and there are moments where you learn and you get better. That’s certainly been the case for me the last four years.”
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Broncos CEO David Donaghy on Friday refuted suggestions Walters had lost the dressing room or that the players weren’t taking their share of responsibility for making only one finals series during his tenure. However, he provided few details about the review or what he was looking for in a replacement coach.
“I think the reality is for us that we acknowledge that, as an organisation and as a club, we can be better, we can do better,” Donaghy said.
“We’ll have those discussions first internally and then put the pieces in place to ensure that we continue to spring off the pieces that Kev’s put in place here over the past four years into next year.”
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