NRL 2023: Rugby Australia boss Hamish McLennan vows Broncos will lose bidding war for Payne Haas
Rugby Australia boss Hamish McLennan has turned up the heat on the Broncos in the battle for Payne Haas, promising Brisbane will lose any bidding war for the superstar prop.
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Rugby Australia boss Hamish McLennan has turned up the heat on Brisbane and the NRL by declaring he is ready to blow the Broncos out of the water with a monster offer for superstar prop Payne Haas.
But Brisbane have hit back in the increasingly spicy tug-of-war for Haas’ signature, with skipper Adam Reynolds backing the NSW Origin enforcer to stay loyal, saying: “His heart is with the Broncos.”
Haas enters Thursday night’s blockbuster against Melbourne at AAMI Park claiming he is in the best form of his career and his rampaging performances have seen the Broncos prop’s market value soar beyond $1 million a season.
It was revealed a fortnight ago that Rugby Australia had made preliminary contact with the Haas camp to lodge their interest.
Now McLennan is stepping up the pursuit of Haas, revealing plans to organise a face-to-face meeting with the Origin and Test star following Rugby Australia’s successful $4.8m poaching raid on Roosters young gun Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.
Haas’ NRL deal expires at the end of 2024 and the Broncos remain confident he will not quit the club, but McLennan is adamant Brisbane cannot beat RA in a bidding war.
It is understood Rugby Australia will pay in excess of $1.2 million a season to entice Haas to wear “Wallaby gold” and McLennan says if the Broncos prop is genuine about a code switch, he is ready to open formal negotiations.
“I’m serious if they are serious ... and we’ll pay more,” McLennan said ahead of Haas’ showdown with the Storm club he nearly joined as a 16-year-old.
The Rugby Australia chairman confirmed he had reached out to Haas via his father Gregor with a view to having the 118kg hulk on the Wallabies’ books for the 2025 British Lions tour and 2027 World Cup.
“I phoned his dad Greg,” McLennan said.
“We had a chat about Payne playing rugby.
“He said Payne was really keen and the next steps were that we’d catch up when I’m next in Brisbane.”
Asked if he believed Haas was seriously entertaining leaving the NRL to test himself in rugby, McLennan said: “I took it on face value that he was keen to join rugby but nothing more has happened since.
“Payne would have an incredible international career if he joined rugby but if he decides to stay in league then at least I can say I played a role in getting him a better deal.
“Greg and Payne can buy me lunch.”
The reality is Haas is unlikely to get a better deal from any club in the NRL, including the Broncos.
The 23-year-old is on $848,000 this season, making him Brisbane’s highest-paid player, and the Broncos have kicked off extension talks that would see Haas become the club’s first $1 million forward.
It is hard to see any NRL club offering Haas more than the $1.2m annually he could make in rugby, but Broncos captain Reynolds hopes money is not the sole consideration for Haas.
Brisbane’s four-time Paul Morgan Medallist is desperate to win a premiership and Reynolds urged Haas to keep faith in the Broncos under coach Kevin Walters, who has steered the club (8-2) to the top of the league this season.
“I can’t see him going to rugby, although the dollars would be nice,” Reynolds said of Haas.
“His heart is in rugby league. His heart is with the Broncos.
“He just shows what a quality player he is week-in and week-out. He would obviously be a massive loss to the game if we were to lose him.”
Asked why he is so confident Haas won’t quit the Broncos, Reynolds added with a wry grin: “I’ll get him in a headlock and bunker him down.
“Working with him day-in and day-out, you see the passion he has for the club.
“It is tough, though, when you have got that external noise in the background, but Payne is a professional and he handles his business probably better than most.
“No doubt he wants to remain at the Broncos.”
Haas has yet to sign a Broncos extension and speculation is rife he will head to free agency from November 1 this year.
But Walters is not hitting the panic button and believes the Broncos will stave off Australian and French rugby to keep the NRL’s No.1 prop at Red Hill.
“We are very comfortable with our position with Payne,” he said.
“I’m sure Payne is as well.
“I’m sure he has some options there but I reckon the good option is to stay at the Broncos and win those premierships he is chasing.
“He can do that here. I am very confident he will stay.”
EDDIE JONES’ SURPRISE PRAISE FOR BRONCOS TACTIC
—Robert Craddock
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has made a surprise acknowledgment of a subtle tactic which has helped the Broncos surge to the top of the NRL ladder.
Quizzed on the merits of kicking too much in rugby union, Jones told a meeting of emerging union coaches in Sydney the issue was not a matter how much you kicked but how well you did it.
After mentioning nations such as Ireland who kicked a lot and kick well Jones noted how, in rugby league, the Broncos had profited this year from a clever kicking game.
He said the Broncos had scored more tries off kicks than any other team in the competition and had also scored more tries than any rival off the fourth tackle.
He noted how Brisbane occasionally benefited from kicking before they reached the fifth tackle because there were times, midway through a tackle count, when the fullback and wingers were not protecting the kicks.
Kicking early is a gamble but research shows it is often worth a dice roll.
Fox Sports statistics have confirmed the Broncos have scored more tries off kicks (14) than any other side – just under a third of their four-pointers – and they have also scored most tries on the fourth tackle (15).
The precision of master kicker Adam Reynolds has been at the heart of Brisbane’s kick friendly game plan.
Reynolds honed his skills aiming at street signs growing up in Redfern in Sydney and his youthful target practice has not been wasted.
The Broncos almost added to the fourth tackle try tally against Manly on Friday when Reynolds floated a kick across field to Selwyn Cobbo who reached high in the corner but was not able to grasp it.
Earlier, Reece Walsh added to the “kick for a try’’ tally when he grubbered on the third tackle and Cobbo crossed in the corner.
The Broncos are flying with eight wins from 10 matches and their Monday training session had the rowdy atmosphere of a team enjoying what they are doing.
Despite Herbie Farnworth, dubbed the competition’s most in-form centre by Mick Ennis, missing the session due to illness, the Broncos are expected to field an unchanged squad from the outfit that beat Manly when they play their bogey side, the Storm, in Melbourne on Thursday.
The Storm have won 22 of the last 24 matches against the Broncos so this game will be a major test of the Broncos status as a genuine title chance.
“We are under no illusions it will be a big test but it is one we are really up for,’’ said Bronco forward Corey Jensen.
“It (the Storm’s landslide winning record) has been mentioned a bit but we haven’t read too much into that. We know what our game is about.’’
Jensen paid tribute to departing football manager Ben Ikin who will leave to become chief executive of the QRL, claiming he had left the Broncos in good stead.
‘PERFECT’ PAYNE: HAS BRONCOS STAR EVER BEEN BETTER?
By Peter Badel
Rugby Australia target Payne Haas has declared he is in career-best form and “at peace” with life at the Broncos as he targets a NSW Origin jumper in his mission to bring down the Maroons.
Haas only has to stay fit to be one of the first players picked for the Blues in the wake of his latest barnstorming display in Brisbane’s 32-6 belting of the Sea Eagles at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
The hulking Haas terrorised Manly at Magic Round, charging for 189 metres from 20 runs in an emphatic return to action after a one-week suspension for a hip drop.
It is a measure of Haas’ ability and consistency that he has won the Paul Morgan Medal as Brisbane’s best-and-fairest for four consecutive seasons, dating back to his first full year in 2019 when he was still only 19.
But Haas’ numbers this season are frighteningly good; compelling evidence he has claims to being the NRL’s No. 1 prop.
After 10 games, Haas has already charged for 1751 metres. He is averaging a remarkable 194m per game and leads the NRL for post-contact metres with 669m.
In defence, Haas has made 232 of a possible 234 tackles. That’s just two misses from 529 minutes of game time for a tackle efficiency of 99.2 per cent.
In essence, the Broncos superstar is almost perfect, with Haas adamant he has never been better ahead of Brisbane’s blockbuster against bogey side the Storm in Melbourne this Thursday night.
“I feel it’s the best that I am playing and I still have a lot of improving to do,” Haas, 23, said.
“I’ve turned things into a positive, I just try and get the team on the front foot and make my tackles.
“I think I have been really consistent in defence and attack. As the weeks go on, hopefully I will be (better) by the end of the season.
“I worked really hard in the pre-season and I know my potential. I know what I can do. It’s just about steady improvement.
“I can’t have it all straight away but I just want to keep on improving as a player and person off the field.”
Haas’ outstanding form for the Broncos has piqued the interest of Rugby Australia, who have made contact with his camp in the hope the NSW enforcer will follow Roosters whiz-kid Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii by chasing “Wallaby gold”.
The interest from Australian and French rugby has come at a time when Haas is digesting his family’s off-field trauma involving his mother Joan, who was charged over a fatal car crash in December.
The 23-year-old says his ability to compartmentalise life and football has underpinned the form surge that has propelled the Broncos (8-2) to the top of the league.
“I feel a bit more mature now,” he said.
“Just being around the boys to be honest, training and going home to my partner and my daughter (who turns two next week).
“We live close to Broncos training, so I get away from footy with my family and then I come to training.
“I am at peace off the field.”
A veteran of nine Origin matches, Haas missed last year’s decider due to a shoulder injury, but the Broncos superstar is chasing redemption after NSW’s 2-1 series loss to Queensland.
“Origin is around the corner, but at the moment I am focused on winning games in the Origin period and putting my best forward for the Broncos,” he said.
“If I start worrying about rep footy, I feel like my form will go down.
“But obviously if I get chosen in Origin, I want to win for NSW and get back at Queensland for what happened last year.”
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