NRL 2022: Brisbane Broncos Payne Haas and Albert Kelly cop bans over drunken fight

The NRL has come down hard on Brisbane’s brawling duo, with suspended prop Payne Haas apologising to teammates as they prepare to take on the premiers without him.

Payne Haas has apologised after the Broncos star and teammate Albert Kelly were hit with NRL fines and suspensions following the infamous “Shoe-gate” scuffle.

Haas will miss Friday’s clash against premiers Penrith after copping a one-game ban and $10,000 fine from the NRL on Tuesday afternoon.

The injured Kelly was also banned for one match and fined $5000 after video footage emerged of the Brisbane duo fighting outside a Sydney hotel last month.

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Haas and Kelly were filmed fighting outside a Sydney hotel.

The teammates were involved in a physical altercation after Kelly allegedly stepped on Haas’ new white shoes. The Broncos came to the conclusion an intoxicated Kelly was the main offender in the scuffle.

In isolation it was a minor incident, albeit a black eye for the battling Broncos. But the NRL took Haas’ disciplinary record into account when deciding sanctions.

The 22-year-old NSW Origin star has now been disciplined three times by the NRL – totalling eight matches of suspensions and $80,000 in fines – for off-field issues in a 66-game career.

Haas missed the opening four games of the 2019 season and was fined $20,000 after failing to fully comply with an NRL Integrity Unit investigation into a violent incident involving his family.

Last year he was slapped with a three-game ban and $50,000 fine by the NRL after pleading guilty to intimidating police during a drunken night out in Tweed Heads.

The injured Albert Kelly has also been fined and suspended. Picture David Clark

Haas was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond and NSW Police are still investigating the dust-up with Kelly, but he vowed to clean up his act.

“It was a silly way to react and I called Alby the following morning to clear the air,” Haas said.

“Acting with any level of violence is not the way to sort something out and I told Alby that, and we have both moved on from it.

“I apologise for my actions and will work hard to be better.”

The NRL was awaiting the conclusion of the police investigation, which could result in further charges for Haas, but decided to issue its punishment based on the evidence they had gathered.

The loss of Haas is a crushing blow for the Broncos ahead of Friday night’s daunting clash against the unbeaten Panthers in Penrith.

Haas has once again been Brisbane’s best player in the early rounds of the season and the Broncos are staring at a fourth straight defeat after winning their first two games.

Haas has been Brisbane’s best player once again. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Kelly, 31, is sidelined for four months following foot surgery last week and said he had settled his differences with Haas.

“I want to apologise for what happened, I’m very disappointed about how I behaved,” he said.

“Payne and I spoke about what happened and we are all good, but I want to say sorry to all the sponsors and fans as well – this is not what we want to stand for at the Broncos.”

The Haas-Kelly scuffle is the latest in a long line of off-field incidents that have engulfed the Broncos in recent seasons during the club’s worst on-field performances in history.

The Broncos have had at least 12 off-field incidents in the past three years and CEO Dave Donaghy said the club had to improve its behaviour.

“We were disappointed by the incident and with the events that led to it, we need to be better than that,” he said.

“I’ve said before that if we want to talk the talk then we have to walk the walk, and we have let ourselves down here.

Kelly could miss the rest of the season with a nasty foot injury. Picture: Getty

“We’ve been very public in saying that we want to be better as a club in everything we do, but we know that journey will have some bumps in the road.

“We need to learn from this and continue to provide our players with the support, education and environment they need and be better going forward.”

The Broncos will be without their two best props in Haas and Tom Flegler (suspended) for the Panthers game along with lock Pat Carrigan (knee).

Winger Selwyn Cobbo (stomach bug) didn’t train on Tuesday while in-form centre Herbie Farnworth had his leg heavily strapped.

Backrower Kurt Capewell will face his former club for the first time and said it was an opportunity for the battered Broncos to stand up.

“We’ve got plenty of players in our squad that can step in and do a job,” he said.

“We’ll keep their jobs simple and give them all the confidence in the world.

“We’re playing against the premiers but we’re in the NRL, it doesn’t matter who you play against, you want to put your best foot forward.

“It’s a great opportunity. Who better to play than the best team in the comp?”

Originally published as NRL 2022: Brisbane Broncos Payne Haas and Albert Kelly cop bans over drunken fight