{"id":373577,"date":"2024-03-07T01:04:28","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T02:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=373577"},"modified":"2024-03-07T03:02:24","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T03:02:24","slug":"judiciary-twist-as-leniu-apologises-for-mam-distress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=373577","title":{"rendered":"Judiciary twist as Leniu apologises for Mam 'distress'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roosters<\/a> prop Spencer Leniu has issued a public apology to Ezra Mam and pleaded guilty to using a racist slur against the young Broncos playmaker<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ufeffLeniu has been ordered to face the NRL<\/a> judiciary to answer a contrary conduct charge over allegations he labelled Mam a "monkey" during the game in Las Vegas on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Leniu has never denied he made the comment, and on Thursday his club issued a statement on his behalf.<\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE:<\/strong> Gus rips NRL for 'damage' caused by Leniu slur<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> Beautiful detail as Aussie Olympic kit unveiled<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Fresh vision to be used in NRL's case against Leniu<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeff"I want to apologise to Ezra and his family for using the word I did and I am sincerely sorry to cause him such distress," Leniu said.<\/p>\n

"I've put my hand up and want to take ownership of this.<\/p>\n

"I said the word but I didn't mean it in a racist way. Anyone who knows me knows that's not who I am."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A date has not been set for Leniu's hearing but it will be before the Roosters' round two clash next week, most likely on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\ufeffThe 2024 recruit had shown no remorse over the incident on Sunday and attempted to play the comment off as "banter", before inviting Broncos players to have it out with him in the Vegas hotel.<\/p>\n

That offer was accepted and he was confronted by several Brisbane players later that night in the hotel corridor.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Upon landing in Sydney two days later Leniu had clearly been advised to keep his mouth shut and offered a "no comment"<\/a> to reporters.<\/p>\n

Proud Indigenous superstar Latrell Mitchell is among those calling for a long ban for Leniu<\/a>, asking for more than half the NRL season to be served on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

It would be a bitter blow for the Roosters who signed the prop from reigning champions Penrith, and had designs on Leniu filling the shoes of Kiwi veteran Jared Waerea-Hagreaves.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

\ufeff"Spencer has been completely open and honest throughout this process, and we will continue to support him," Roosters CEO Joe Kelly said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

"We extend our deepest apologies to Ezra, his family and the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and offer our support to all parties during this time.<\/p>\n

"We respect the judiciary process. Accordingly, the club will not be making any further comment prior to the hearing."<\/p>\n

Several Broncos players had been expected to testify against Leniu at the judiciary hearing but are unlikely to be required due to Leniu's guilty plea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roosters prop Spencer Leniu has issued a public apology to Ezra Mam and pleaded guilty to using a racist slur against the young Broncos playmaker. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":372640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=373577"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":373580,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373577\/revisions\/373580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/372640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=373577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=373577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=373577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}