‘He called me a monkey’: Indigenous Bronco accuses Leniu of racial comment

Accusations of a racial slur by new Sydney Roosters recruit Spencer Leniu against Brisbane five-eighth Ezra Mam marred the NRL’s historic season-opening double-header in Las Vegas.

Referee Adam Gee brought the match to a halt in the 69th minute, placing Leniu on report following a formal complaint from Mam.

“Ezra has made a formal complaint,” Gee said to the Roosters after a push-and-shove broke out. “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 asks Mam if he wanted to make a formal complaint, to which Mam responds, “Yes I do”.

Leniu was asked briefly about the incident in a post-match interview with Triple M and said he believed the matter would not be taken any further.

Roosters recruit Spencer Leniu.

In his post-match media conference, Brisbane coach Kevin Walters said Mam was standing by his complaint, while skipper Adam Reynolds said he had not heard the comment Leniu is alleged to have made on the field.

“He’s pretty upset in there, but we’ll leave that in the hands of the NRL to police and adjudicate on,” Walters said. “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 would not be drawn on the incident. “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.”

Joseph Manu celebrates a try for the Roosters.

The incident at least partly overshadowed a Sydney Roosters masterclass against the highly fancied Broncos on a night skipper James Tedesco gave notice that his best days aren’t behind him.

Together with new father and rugby-bound Joseph Manu, the Roosters’ two biggest attacking weapons sent a warning out to opponents who were starting to think the club’s premiership window had closed.

The Broncos, still shaking off the heartache of a 17-minute grand final capitulation that cost them last year’s premiership, started the game looking like the team that finished their last.

Mam gifted the Roosters the opening points of the game with a loose pass that was intercepted by Manu, who only joined his teammates in the United States five days out from the game after staying home for the birth of his child.

NRL pin-up boy Reece Walsh started the match looking like he had just walked off Las Vegas Boulevard wearing hot pink boots.

They lasted just five minutes, though, with Walsh switching for a white pair that you could only assume provided more grip on a surface the Broncos were unfamiliar with, given they weren’t allowed to do a captain’s run on Allegiant Stadium like the “home team” the Roosters.

Whatever advantage the Roosters had gained showed, producing a rust-free first half that left onlookers wondering if this would be the year they finally put it all together.

The Broncos were missing four players from last year’s grand final – Kurt Capewell, Tom Flegler, Herbie Farnworth and Keenan Palasia.

Trailing 8-0 and looking lost for ideas, Brisbane threw the ball to Walsh in the hope he might have the Midas touch.

The Broncos No.1 almost ran himself out of space on the narrow playing surface but, in typical Walsh fashion, produced something out of nothing with a deft grubber kick against the grain and through the legs of the Roosters defenders to send Deine Mariner over for their first try of the season.

The 8-4 lead the Roosters took into the sheds wasn’t a reflection of their dominance in the opening period of the match, regardless of the Sam Walker field goal on the stroke of half-time that was controversially taken away from them in response to the NRL’s crackdown on attacking players impeding defenders.

A converted try to Junior Pauga in the 53rd minute, courtesy of a miraculous flick pass from the rugby union-bound Manu, ticked the scoreboard over to a margin that resembled the Roosters’ superiority.

Walsh, again, had something to say about that when he combined with the Broncos outside backs to reduce the deficit to just four points with almost a quarter of the game remaining.

In the end the Roosters got what they deserved, with Tedesco fittingly putting the exclamation mark on an impressive outing.

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