Footy star suffers sickening head injury in training ground mishap

The Brisbane Broncos suffered a training scare on Tuesday after Jordan Riki was left bloodied following a collision with teammate Patrick Carrigan.

Blood was seen coming from the back rower’s temple after the collision at Red Hill, where both players were attended to by medical staff.

But News Corp reports that both Riki and Carrigan are expected to be cleared to play against the Sydney Roosters on Friday.

All eyes will be on Ezra Mam at Suncorp Stadium as he faces the Tricolors for the first time since being racially abused by rival player Spencer Leniu in the season opener in Las Vegas.

Leniu was handed an eight-week ban for calling Mam a ‘monkey’ and will be sidelined on Friday, and Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds – who will mentor Mam in the half – is confident there will be no problems this weekend will be.

“It’s another game for us,” Reynolds said.

“It’s your job (in the media) to build it up and talk about it. That is understandable.

‘We know this is part of the game and everything that comes with it, but we have moved past it and dealt with it as a club.

“For us it is another opportunity to play our brand of football and get better.”

No.6 Mam missed last week’s 34-10 win over Wests Tigers with a finger injury as halfback Reynolds returned to his masterful best.

Mum trained well on Tuesday and Reynolds was confident the five-eighth would be on the park against the Roosters for Friday’s match at Suncorp Stadium.

Mom was mentioned later in the side.

“If I had a bet on him, I’d say he’d pull through,” Reynolds said.

‘We’ll have to see how he steps up, he made a little bit of contact at the start of the session.

“He wanted to see how the hand felt, but when he looked at it, it looked pretty good.”

The Broncos are preparing for Friday night’s match against Sydney Roosters

Center Selwyn Cobbo, who dropped out last week with a shoulder problem, trained in a non-contact vest but was also mentioned.

The last time the Broncos played the Roosters – in Las Vegas for March’s high-profile season opener – Mam was racially abused by Tricolors sponsor Spencer Leniu, who was subsequently banned for eight weeks.

“It’s a different game for us. It’s the job of you guys (in the media) to build it up and talk about it, and that’s understandable,” Reynolds said when asked if emotions were likely to run high on Friday night.

‘We know this is part of the game and everything that comes with it, but we have moved past it and dealt with it as a club.

“I’m sure (the Roosters) did that too. It’s a new opportunity to play our brand of football and get better.

“It has been addressed from both sides: by our club, their club and the NRL. We’re past it.’

The Broncos got some good news on Tuesday when Jock Madden, Mam’s replacement against the Tigers, was cleared of a pectoral laceration.

Ezra Mam is expected to feature against the Roosters and all eyes will be on him

Reynolds said Madden did a “fantastic job” as a substitute, but also noted Mom’s continued improvement.

“Ezra is constantly developing as a player and still works very hard at his craft,” he said.

“His growth is about learning the game and getting him more involved – and bringing a little authority to the match at certain points in the game.”

Reynolds said he has made a full recovery from the cramps that forced him out late in the game against the Tigers, adding that the pickle juice he drank to aid hydration might be tossed out.

‘I hadn’t played for a few weeks, and whether I was sufficiently hydrated that night I’m not too sure, but we’ve got a good (physically performing) team here and we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. again,” he said.

“I hate the pickle juice. It doesn’t taste that good and it didn’t seem to help that night, but luckily we were awake at that point so I could get out.”