Roosters CEO Joe Kelly was asked why it had taken Leniu five whole days to apologise,and he said:“Until we all got back here to Australia,it was a situation where up to a point in time,Spencer wasn’t even aware it was a racial slur. We worked our way through this. We convened as soon as got back to Sydney.
“In that first meeting with Spencer,we said,‘how do you want to deal with it?’,and he said,‘I want to go and see Ezra in Brisbane’.”
Spencer Leniu clashes with Kotoni Staggs minutes after his slur against Ezra Mam.Credit:Getty
Gyles asked Leniu if he was aware of Sydney Swans player Adam Goodes,who had been subjected to racism during an AFL game in 2013,but said he had not. Gyles said using the word “monkey” has “connotations that race is somehow different or less than the ordinary person”.
Leniu said that growing up in Mt Druitt it was not uncommon for his mates with the “same skin tone” to refer to each other as “black c–t” and “blacky”. He said he had never taken offence at being called “monkey” and “coconut”.
Mam was not required to attend League HQ,but did provide a 12-paragraph statement,and wanted eight of those paragraphs to remain confidential. Video footage played at the hearing showed Leniu yelling in the direction of Mam before the Bronco became upset.
“Spencer said,“f-k up you monkey’,and at that point I was so angry and saw red after that,my mind was no longer focused on the game,” Mam wrote in his statement.
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Mam remains angry about the incident,and quickly found support from fellow Indigenous players,most notably Latrell Mitchell. Mitchell himself later became a headline when his strong views on social media upset fellowIndigenous man and former NRL player Anthony Mundine.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson sat just metres away from Leniu for moral support,as did club CEO Joe Kelly.
In recent days,there were suggestions Leniu may have only been reacting to being abused himself by Broncos players,but it was a claim quickly dismissed as nonsense by Brisbane officials.
Marcelo Montoya was hit with a four-match ban for a homophobic slur directed at Mitch Barnett during a game in 2022.
Bryan Fletcher was sacked as South Sydney captain and fined $10,000 by the club after he racially abused Parramatta’s Dean Widders during a game in 2005. Fletcher said at the time:“Although it’s only words,they’re pretty harsh words that I’ve said.” Widders was a notable attendee at the Leniu hearing.
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