NRL Wrap: Payne Haas reportedly suspended; Jordan Kahu’s Cowboy quick change; Panthers ‘s***’ pre-seasons over

The Brisbane Broncos have confirmed their suspension of hulking star Payne Haas — doubling his fine and match-ban in a heavy whack.

Payne Haas may miss the start of the season.

The Brisbane Broncos have confirmed the suspension of giant star Payne Haas after he reportedly refused to fully co-operate with the NRL integrity unit regarding an incident last year.

Triple M’s The Rush Hour with Dobbo reported on Tuesday the 19-year-old would be suspended for the first two games of the season and fined on the back of an incident at the back end of last year with Haas not fully co-operating.

The widespread reports of Haas’ two-match suspension were blown out of the water on Wednesday morning when the Broncos released a statement outlining the club’s decision to suspend their wrecking ball for the first four matches of the NRL season — doubling the suspension first reported.

On top of being stood down for the club’s pre-season matches and the opening four rounds, Haas has also been whacked with a $20,000 fine, the club announced.

The statement confirms Haas’ suspension stems from an investigation by the NRL Integrity Unit into an incident involving Haas and his family.

“Those matters are private and the club has committed upon the request of all parties that they remain confidential,” Broncos chief executive Paul White said.

“But Payne’s level of cooperation with the investigation by the NRL Integrity Unit fell short of the expectations and the standards set by our club.

“We have a duty to protect the reputation of our club and our game – and we have a duty to our players – which requires us to hold them accountable for their decisions, and we are doing that today.

“Payne will miss the opening rounds of the competition and that is a heavy price to pay, as well as receiving a substantial fine.

“But we see this as a mistake made by young man and we are confident that Payne will learn his lesson.

“We hope this sends a strong message that the values and conduct of everyone at the Brisbane Broncos is of the utmost importance to club.”

White said there was no allegation, or any act of violence committed by Haas, nor any breach of the law involving Haas.

The NRL has sanctioned the Broncos’ tough stance.

Reports on Tuesday night claimed the Broncos “weren’t happy with the information that Haas gave the integrity unit”.

Payne Haas is in the Broncos’ bad books.

Broncos CEO Paul White will hold a press conference on Wednesday to address the incident.

Channel 9 in Brisbane reported it stemmed from an off-field incident with his family although he was “not directly involved in the incident and has been cleared but was present”.

It was reported he “didn’t uphold the values of the Broncos brand”.

#EXCLUSIVE: #9News can reveal rising @brisbanebroncos superstar Payne Haas has been suspended. @MyMateDobbo #9News pic.twitter.com/zbv0ZRKc6S

— Nine News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) February 19, 2019

Haas produced a huge trial performance in the Broncos’ 42-0 win over South-Logan on the weekend with the 194cm and 120kg giant

“Payne did a great job,” Broncos assistant coach Kurt Richards said.

“He had big raps last year and he didn’t get a chance to show what he could, but that was a good stepping stone for what he can do this year.

“We played Payne for extended minutes to get his match fitness up, he ran hard and got us quick play the balls.

“I was happy with the overall performance, we gave away 14 or 15 penalties but the effort was there.”

The Courier Mailhave reported it was on the back of “two off-field incidents”.

QUICK CHANGE FOR KAHU

The North Queensland top literally didn’t fit when Jordan Kahu completed his whirlwind pre-season move from Brisbane this week.

But the likely replacement for the sacked Ben Barba at fullback says he’s quickly settling in and intent on making the most of his one-season deal at the NRL club.

So late was Kahu’s arrival that only XXL uniforms remained in the kit bag, leaving the newcomer swimming in his new colours on arrival.

But, knowing there was no place for him in Anthony Seibold’s first-choice Broncos side this year, the 28-year-old believes the sudden move north was worth it to revive his first-grade career.

Now the clothes fit.

“It does to be honest, yesterday was probably the weirdest when they gave me all 2XLs because all the gear had gone out,” he said.

“So that was a funny start and I’d been at the Broncos since end of 2009, so nearly 10 years and all I’ve known for the last decade.”

Brisbane’s overflowing backline stocks meant Kahu was likely to be squeezed out of the frame following a career at Red Hill stunted by injury.

But Barba’s NRL ban has opened a door for the well-respected New Zealand international, who has always had his sights on holding down the No.1 jersey at NRL level.

“I was smart enough and knew I didn’t really fit into the (Brisbane) team,” he said, clarifying that he was yet to earn his spot at fullback. “I want to play NRL obviously and I couldn’t see that opportunity at the Broncos unless there was an injury.

“And who knows when that was going to happen and I wasn’t willing to wait around.

“I just felt I was good enough to play in the NRL week in, week out.”

The former rugby union talent hasn’t ruled out a return to the code but says there’s plenty left to achieve in league.

“I’m proud of myself that I’ve got this far after all the injuries and adversity that I’ve faced,” he said.

“It (95 games) doesn’t seem like a lot, but I think I’ve had 10 surgeries now and I’m proud of myself to hopefully tick that milestone off this year.”

— AAP

‘S***’ PRESEASONS GONE UNDER CLEARY

Ivan Cleary has put the ball back in Penrith’s NRL pre-season with players noticing a shift from Anthony Griffin’s long running sessions to a more game- focused approach.

Three months after he left the Wests Tigers, Cleary will coach Penrith in a match for the first time in three years in Saturday’s NRL trial against South Sydney at Redfern.

Besides swapping halves Nathan Cleary and James Maloney to opposite sides of the field, the coach’s most notable pre-season impact has been longer and harder-hitting skills sessions.

“Each coach has their own way of how they want to coach, the pre-seasons that we’ve had under Hook (Griffin), probably just the running aspect was s***,” prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard told AAP.

The Panthers have been training with the ball.

“Over the past few years we’ve had a Monday and a Friday with fitness and no ball. You front up to maybe 7km of just running and that’s your session done before you come over and do weights.

“Now you’re actually doing fitness with a ball in hand. I’ve always been a believer of it and having previously been coached by Ivan that’s what I’m used to.”

Last season’s pre-season is understood to have been a point of contention at Penrith which culminated in Griffin and Phil Gould’s confrontation during the first pre-season trial last February.

After his sacking as coach, Griffin claimed the two had words over a lack of focus in the team’s attack as he opted to play his forwards unchanged through the first 40 minutes of a trial against Canterbury.

Penrith regularly stormed home late to win games last year but were ranked just 11th for completed sets.

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In turn, Cleary has held regular long ball work sessions since his arrival in November, with a no-holds-barred approach often taken in defence.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Campbell-Gillard said.

“We train with a ball, we’re not marathon runners and we’re not in the Olympics to train for a 2.5km run.

“Our trade is to play with a football. It helps to try and catch a ball under fatigue, it’s going to happen.

“It’s things like that, scenarios that are actually going to happen in a game.”

The players are believed to have felt the brunt of the strategy with a number of minor contact injuries but all expected are to be fit to face Parramatta in round one.

— AAP

Originally published as NRL Wrap: Payne Haas reportedly suspended; Jordan Kahu’s Cowboy quick change; Panthers ‘s***’ pre-seasons over