The NRL was able to deliver the best of both worlds in its Las Vegas double-header – a match full of thunderous hits following an end-to-end tryfest.
Big hits dominated game two of the Allegiant Stadium carnival of league with the Roosters outmuscling the Broncos 20-10 to record the second boilover of the night after Manly outscored Souths 36-24 with 11 touchdowns in the end zones/tries in the in-goal areas.
The 40,000-plus fans at the US stadium were nearly also treated to an old-fashioned dust-up when Roosters recruit Spencer Leniu and opposing forward Jordan Riki locked horns but the players made sure they stayed on their best behaviour while representing their sport on foreign turf.
Leniu was then put on report when Ezra Mam “made a formal complaint that’s racial in nature”, according to referee Adam Gee, who told both captains that he did not hear the remark but it would be investigated by the match review committee.
Mam was heard in the match broadcast audio saying “he called me a monkey” to Gee.
Leniu claimed he was “not worried at all” and said “it’s all just fun and games on the field, that’s it” in a sideline interview with Triple M.
Mam, who is Indigenous, accused the Samoan international during a break in play with 11 minutes remaining and both teams ripped into each other with even more vigour on the next set.
But the Roosters remained focused and were rewarded for their being the better team by far when Roosters captain James Tedesco sliced past Mam to send lock Victor Radley in for the match-winning try.
Johnathan Thurston on Nine’s coverage said the young five-eighth was in tears after the game and Brisbane coach Kevin Walters said Mam was pretty upset but they would leave the incident with the NRL to investigate.
“We certainly support Ezra and our player, and everything that’s around that. He’s adamant,” he added.
“Not in this day and age would you think it’s still out there – it’s a bit of a shock.”
Broncos captain Adam Reynolds said he was well away from the incident when it happened. “We certainly don’t stand for racism – we’ll support Ezra and get around him and make sure he’s alright.”
Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell, who has been subjected to racial taunts from fans, took to social media to support Mam, posting: “I stand with you Bala. NRL better deal with this s–t.”
Roosters coach Trent Robinson said “I can’t have any opinion on it, I don’t know what happened”.
“(Mam) obviously made the complaint but that doesn’t mean that it’s right. It will go through the formal process as it should.”
Much of the pre-game talk before this match-up centred on Brisbane fullback Reece Walsh’s potential impact after his breakout season in 2023.
Joseph Manu runs the ball at Allegiant Stadium. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
But he was overshadowed by Tedesco and another player who never looks out of place in a No.1 jersey in Joey Manu, who produced a day-one entry for the try assist of the season in the second half.
Manu was somehow able to unfurl an around-the-corner flick pass as he was tackled by Broncos defenders Jesse Arthars and Selwyn Cobbo to find unmarked wingman Junior Pauga just metres from the line.
“That is a brilliant moment from one of the classiest centres of the last decade, Joey Manu,” Fox League analyst Michael Ennis gushed on commentary. “An absolute star of our game and he’s just shown what he’s capable of here in Las Vegas.”
Manu only had one training session in the States after arriving late following the birth of his daughter but was all class out wide.
“Two days later I had to leave and I really didn’t want to leave so it was really tough coming over but I’m glad I got here. What an atmosphere – it was so good to bring the game to Vegas,” he said.
When asked about the flick pass, he added: “I practise that at training but the boys just get me in good positions. I felt like we really played our power game and it started opening up a bit. That’s what I love, that open footy.”
And while Manu’s magical moment was the attacking highlight of the contest, there was plenty of defensive clout on display with Radley ironing out Martin Taupau, the Manly veteran getting one of his own in on Luke Keary, Mam flattening fellow playmaker Sam Walker and Radley also rocking Walsh and Kobe Hetherington with thunderous tackles.
The Roosters got the jump on the Broncos in the fifth minute when centre Joey Manu peeled off a pick six on NFL turf, intercepting a careless Mam pass from 30 metres out
They kept the pressure on Brisbane, maintaining their advantage in field position and on the scoreboard when Billy Walters sacrificed a ruck infringement to halt another Roosters raid, giving up two points for an easy Walker penalty.
Brisbane looked disjointed in attack and after a couple of handling errors stymied their attempts to put on points, they opened their account in the 35th minute when a right-side shift led to Walsh standing up Joseph Suaalii and threading a kick through for Deine Mariner to set sail for the ball.
Daniel Tupou looked set to extend the 8-4 half-time lead six minutes after the restart and Tedesco effectively used a captain’s challenge to overturn Gee’s decision that the Roosters winger fumbled the ball in Walsh’s last-ditch tackle in the left corner.
The replay showed Walsh shoulder-charged the veteran Tongan and Brisbane could count them lucky that the incident happened just inside the field of play otherwise it would have been a penalty try.
Although the Roosters coughed up possession on the next set, they kept their foot on the throttle and were rewarded in the 54th minute when Manu’s magical pass put Pauga over out wide for a 14-4 advantage.
Walsh narrowed the deficit to four midway through the second half when a slick sequence of passes down the left edge led to Arthars sending away so he could unveil some razzle-dazzle with a huge swandive to bury the ball under the posts.
But the Broncos never managed to find top gear and the flight back from Vegas will feel extra long for last year’s grand finalists.
For the Roosters, who had lost eight of their previous Round 1 outings, the win was the perfect confidence-booster heading into their Round 2 rendezvous with fellow first-up winners Manly at Brookvale in a fortnight.
Gary Russell-Sharam
Roar Rookie
It amazes me that the media would go to Mitchell to comment on this. It only adds to the beat up. Mitchell himself is no saint cast your mind back to Covid days etc. Mitchel, is lauded as a great player, IMO he could be so much better if he wasn't so lazy, I watched a game recently that he played Fullback and when the tough stuff was on when you had to run the ball out from your line. In the whole match he achieved two of these runs where most fullbacks of any that are worth their salt put their hands up to do this on multiple occasions, to give their forwards a break. Most of the time Mitchell is on the end of really good play by the blokes inside him to score a try and then he plays it up as though he is the man. I get a bit tired of this, and the Media give him air. Whether or not Leniu is guilty should be determined by the judiciary not by the media and Mitchell. Mam made the complaint, what makes this so silly is that both are coloured men. If both of them take racism seriously surely they would be mad to voice this sort of stuff. I'm a bit over this racism stuff anyway. I once had a teacher call my son out for referring to his best mate, as his black mate at school (he was born a New Guinea) My sons best mate said but I am black that's the colour of my skin. I do think we have gone way over the top at times. I have various mates that are coloured and racism never comes up at any time. It is treating all as equals that is the key
mushi
Roar Guru
You also ran with the "deflect some blame there" as the opener. It's not deflection it's fact, and I'm happy for my team to take the consequences of both teams blame for the betterment of the game. Would you?
criag
Roar Rookie
No, you can see the ball travelling backwards in relation to where his body was placed in relation to the tryline. It is definitely backwards, and by a long stretch. You can see from the ground level shot. Totally conclusive.
criag
Roar Rookie
Seriously, Glory??? If I thought it was forward I would say so. Wipe the tears of frustration from your red and green glasses and have a proper look.
Tony
Roar Guru
Interesting that comments aren’t allowed on the Sam Kerr article on the soccer page ????
Insideflickpass
Roar Rookie
Mitchell should be fined for trying to milk a penalty pretending he was kicked in the head bringing the game into disrepute. The NRL need to deal with this s..t
Panthers
Roar Rookie
I’m still wondering how Walsh stays on the field each time he deliberately shoulder charges an opponent, to stop them scoring a try.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
That’s why the earth is always flat , to you.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
I said you are right about having everyone punished for these things. I think that covers , well ‘Everyone’!
mushi
Roar Guru
What versus never accepting any? I've hoped for the NRL to do something adverse to my club... You've whinged about me using one of your players having set a precedent we don't want to keep repeating that I'm happy for us to be punished for.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Roosters don't have any indigenous players, so fully expect the players to circle the wagons and deny everything. Robbo has already cast doubt on Ezra with his post match interview, “Mam obviously made the complaint, but that doesn’t mean that it’s right." I thought it was a really poor look for Trent, the bloke is supposed to be a leader for the Roosters, NRL and the rugby league community in general. How hard would it have been to say "we support Spencer's right to due process, but the Roosters will never support racial vilification and will always work hard to stamp it out of our great code". That's just human decency.
Cam
Roar Rookie
There is a huge difference between offensive language on a footy field (ie "you're f***ing soft, I'm going f***ing smash you") and hate speech, which by definition targets people based on their protected characteristics (race, religion, gender). Leniu's use of the term "monkey" is a terribly racist slur, especially amongst the 48 million African Americans in the US and implies Ezra is less evolved or subhuman. I think Leniu will be sitting down for quite some time and unfortunately for Spencer, I don't think the Roosters will miss him.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Terrell May (17 runs, 167m, 3 tackle breaks and 3 offloads) came off the bench and lapped Leniu (10 runs, 95m, 1 tackle break, 0 offloads) in both effort and quality of work.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Couple of things here, I've been called that and worse. Didn't go run off to mum. It takes power and ammunition way if you don't let it get to you. Congratulations are in order if he fronted Leniu and left it at that, not for playing up to a target point in the system for attention.
Tony
Roar Guru
If those guys tell you to pull your head in, probably best to do so.
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
Manu was facing backwards, towards his own try line, and pushed the ball backwards relative to his own body. ie it depends on whether the rules define “backwards” as relative to the ground, or relative to the way the player is facing. Be careful how you answer. :=) Remember that every player executing a field goal or a grubber kick pushes the ball forwards – relative to his body and relative to ground – to get it in the desired position for his swinging leg to contact with it.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
There was a piece written on The Roar over Summer talking about the potential conflict as Leinu comes in and becomes the leader of the pack at the Roosters. Watching players like Collins, Butcher, Teddy and a few others appearing to tell Leinu to pull his head in a few times, gave me the sense he hadn't entrenched himself in that team at all yet. He is a long way from being a leader and may find himself kicked to the curb by the end of the week.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
I take pride in the fact that my mind is incapable of being changed! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Is that the same as having your mind changed for you? Remember George Orwells' dystopian '1984' and "The Ministry of Truth'?
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Yeah, but his back was half facing towards the try line, so backwards out of the hands = forward pass! Don't let the NRL Triumvirate's 'The Ministry of Truth' (1984) sway you, Ben. You were right the first time.