NRL grand final LIVE: Victims of Brisbane Broncos star's drug-driving crash slam him just before the biggest match of the year

Follow Daily Mail Australia’s live blog for all the updates and scores from the NRL grand final.

 

Ezra Mam is slammed by victims of his drug-driving crash

Mam crashed his Ford into an Uber in inner-city Brisbane in October 2024, leaving the Uber driver and his two passengers – a mother and daughter – with serious injuries, most notably a broken hip suffered by the five-year-old girl.

Now, as he prepares to play a starring role in the grand final, the mother and Uber driver have hit out at what they see as the star’s grossly lenient treatment from the court and the NRL.

The mother, Taylor Marshall, said Mam should have been hit with a far harsher outcome than being fined $850 and losing his licence for six months, in addition to being rubbed out for nine weeks and fined $120,000 by the NRL after cocaine was found in his system after the accident.

‘I’m in shock he’s playing,’ Marshall said.

‘I seriously thought he would get a year’s suspension. He got nine games. It’s not good enough.

‘I said on the day of his court case that the suit he was wearing would have cost more than the fine that he got.’

Uber driver Marcel Van Den Camp spoke through his lawyer, Kaitlyn Marsh, who said he finds it ‘re-traumatising’ to see Mam ‘continue to live comfortably’.

‘Our client does not agree with the consequences imposed by the NRL or the fact that Ezra is playing in this weekend’s grand final,’ Marsh said in a statement.

Ezra Mam of the Broncos  during an open training session at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Wednesday, October 1, 2025. (AAP Image/Jason O'Brien) NO ARCHIVING
14391205 Revealed: Ute of troubled NRL star Ezra Mam after car crash up for auction in Brisbane car lot

The NRLW toss is done

The Roosters won it, and Brisbane will be kicking off come 4pm.

Warriors 44, Bears 12

Jeez, that was far too easy for Taine Tuaupiki, who scores his second by stepping past four defenders in the middle of the field, freezing them with great footwork before cutting through the line. That’s the sort of running you just can’t teach. Boyd lands the conversion once again.

Warriors 38, Bears 12

A beaut chip and chase by Josh Rogers and a partly accidental offload by Nicholas O’Meley set that one up for Ewan Moore, who goes over near the corner. Rogers nails the difficult conversion.

Police escort for the Broncos

Teams often choose to stay in accommodation very close to Accor Stadium in Homebush, but not the Broncs. They’re holed up in Brighton, right on the shores of Botany Bay in Sydney’s south.

There’ll be no worries with traffic when they make their way to the ground, though, as NSW Police will be making sure everything runs smoothly.

Warriors 38, Bears 6

Well, at least Burleigh have slowed them down a bit.

It took 11 minutes of second-half action before Luke Hanson scored the Wahs’ seventh try of the afternoon, with Tanah Boyd making no mistake with the extras this time.

Back underway in the State Championship

And we have a very famous spectator, Ivan Cleary (pictured below), who is watching his son Jett play for the Warriors.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 05: Ivan Cleary, coach of the Penrith Panthers, and his wife Rebecca Cleary watch the NRL State Championship Grand Final match between the Burleigh Bears and New Zealand Warriors at Accor Stadium on October 05, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 05: Jett Cleary of the Warriors looks on from the bench during the NRL State Championship Grand Final match between the Burleigh Bears and New Zealand Warriors at Accor Stadium on October 05, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

The Roosters have arrived

The Chooks are trying to go back-to-back in the NRLW decider, but Brisbane are the favourites, despite the fact the Tricolours are just 70 minutes of footy away from going through the entire season undefeated.

Roosters star Jessica Sergis just led her teammates off the bus, with the big match kicking off at 4pm.

Some of the early arrivals at Accor

Warriors 32, Bears 6 at halftime

That’s the second four-pointer for Setu Tu, who strolled over on the back of a lightning-fast last pass from Ali Leiataua, but Boyd can’t slot the two-pointer.

And that’s halftime. Bears coach Luke Burt, who starred for Parramatta in the early 2000s, will need to pull out an all-time-great speech at the break if his team are going to get out of Accor with a win.

Burleigh finally hit back: Warriors 28, Bears 6

Cole Geyer – the son of Penrith and NSW Blues legend Mark – crashes over to finish the first good set from the Bears all match, with Josh Rogers landing the conversion.

Warriors 28, Bears 0

Freddy Lussick joins the procession in the 29th minute, sliding through a yawning gap after some good lead-up play by Tanah Boyd, who has an easy conversion from right in front.

Plenty of time for the Wahs to add to what is fast starting to look like an unbeatable lead before halftime. The Bears are getting carved up left, right and centre, with the Warriors scooting 80 metres on their set after receiving the kickoff. This is boys vs men stuff at the moment.

The Warriors cross for a fourth try to lead 22-0

Setu Tu doubled the Kiwis’ lead in the 14th minute, and halfback Tanah Boyd has just notched a four-pointer to go with three conversions from three attempts.

The Burleigh Bears look badly outmatched by the Warriors’ size and power at the moment, and they just made matters worse with a bad fumble as they tried to bring the ball back after the kickoff.

The Wahs waste no time capitalising on that mistake, with Taine Tuaupiki carving through the defence out wide to score a meat pie straight off the scrum.

Boyd misses the conversion this time. It’s starting to get ugbly for the Queenslanders.

Warriors draw first blood

New Zealand’s Ali Leiataua has crossed in the ninth minute to give his team the opening try against the Burleigh Bears in the State Championship.

Tahah Boyd put on a great last pass and has also slotted the conversion for a 6-0 lead.

Phil Gould jokes about health scare

On Wednesday night, just as the Dally M red carpet was getting underway, news broke that the Bulldogs boss and Channel Nine star had been in a Sydney hospital since Monday with serious health issues.

‘Gus’ returned to the commentary booth on grand final day to lend his expertise to the State Championship match between the New Zealand Warriors and Burleigh Bears.

‘Just watch me drip, will you, please? Don’t tread on it,’ he joked to his fellow commentators.

G’day and welcome

Hello and thanks for joining the Daily Mail for our coverage of the 2025 NRL grand final.

Stick with us as we bring you all the action from Accor Stadium, where the Broncos will be trying to win their first premiership since 2006 as they face the Melbourne Storm in the biggest match of the year.

 

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