Payne Haas declares he wants to be a Bronco for life after Titans blunder
Powerhouse rookie Payne Haas has given Brisbane fans plenty of hope for the future, saying he has no intentions of leaving the club that signed him after his family fell out with the Titans at a young age.
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Towering teenager Payne Haas has revealed his ambition to become a Bronco for life as the front-row sensation on Saturday night returns to the Gold Coast to inflict more misery on his former Titans club.
Statistics provided by Fox Lab show the 19-year-old Haas is on course to make history as the youngest forward in the NRL’s 21-year existence to run for the most metres in a single season.
Former NSW Origin prop Mark O’Meley amassed 2960 metres at age 20 with the Northern Eagles in 2001, but Haas already has 2169m this season heading into Saturday night’s derby at Cbus Super Stadium.
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If he maintains his average of 166m per game over the final six weeks, Haas will become the first forward under the age of 21 in NRL history to post 3000m in a season.
Those numbers illustrate his rare talent and why it was considered one of the great retention blunders when Haas quit the Titans in 2015 after Gold Coast junior coaches banned him from playing for his school side Keebra Park High.
The Broncos duly swooped and have since signed Haas to a mega six-year deal. The 118kg enforcer will be 24 when he comes off-contract at the end of 2024, leaving him up for grabs in his prime years, but Haas told The Courier-Mail he hopes to finish his career at the Broncos.
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“I just want to give back to the Broncos now,” Haas said.
“I copped a bit of criticism last year, some people say I didn’t deserve that big contract but I’m not playing for other people, I’m here to pay back the Broncos for their faith and I will keep improving and give the Broncos fans everything they deserve.
“I left the Titans because of personal issues.
“Me and my family had some personal issues with them and I couldn’t see myself there long term, so I took a backward step and focused on school footy at the time.
“Now I’m at the Broncos and I’m really happy where I’m at. They are a crazy club. I have a lot of love for them, my loyalty is with the Broncos now.
“I don’t want to go anywhere else.”
In just his 16th career game last week, Haas charged for 217 metres against the Bulldogs.
No teenage prop in NRL history has been so consistently dominant around the rucks. Haas made his Origin debut this year after just 11 NRL games and is now hellbent on leading Brisbane’s charge to the playoffs.
“I wouldn’t be playing here if I didn’t think we could make the finals,” he said.
“We can trouble anyone on our day, we obviously have to turn up each week and sometimes our consistency hurts us, but we’re a young team and still learning.
“We have to make a charge now, we can’t lose too many more games.”
Queensland Origin forward and teammate Joe Ofahengaue is blown away by Haas’ talent.
“He’s the real deal, big Payne,” he said. “You talk about boys coming through who are fit and big, he’s the real deal. If he can keep playing like he has been each week, he’ll give us a good shot (at the finals).”
Broncos coach Anthony Seibold said Haas is one of the best young props he has seen.
“For his debut year he has been outstanding for us,” he said. “So long as he keeps preparing well and playing somewhere near his best we can certainly go forward with ‘Payno’ and Matt Lodge and a strong group of forwards.”
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