Brisbane Broncos culture crisis: Payne Haas-Albert Kelly bust-up the 12th off-field scandal in three years

With 10 scandals in just two years the Broncos are dealing with tough questions about the playing culture at Red Hill.

Broncos bosses have denied Brisbane has a rotten culture as it emerged the club has endured at least 12 off-field scandals over the past three years to become the NRL’s bad boys.

The NRL is expected to deliver its verdict on the Payne Haas-Albert Kelly “Shoe-gate” scuffle on Wednesday after video footage surfaced of the Broncos teammates fighting outside a Sydney hotel.

Haas and Kelly are expected to be sanctioned by the NRL, with the Broncos sweating over a potential suspension for their best player Haas in the lead-up to Friday night’s showdown with the Roosters at Suncorp Stadium.

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The NRL’s investigation was prolonged after NSW Police became involved given Haas was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond in February, 2021, after pleading guilty to two counts of intimidating police during a drunken incident in Tweed Heads.

The Haas-Kelly stink is the latest in a long line of incidents involving Broncos’ players behaving badly, with the club registering at least 10 scandals over the past two years.

Former players Matt Lodge and Jack Bird came to blows in December 2019 following a bonding session while current forwards Jordan Riki and Tom Flegler were involved in a post-season scuffle last year.

Payne Haas and Albert Kelly came to blows after Brisbane’s round 2 win against Canterbury Bulldogs.

Star centre Kotoni Staggs has been fined twice by the NRL, totalling $30,000, for poor behaviour while fullback Tesi Niu and TC Robati faced court for driving offences last year.

Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy denied the club had a culture problem but admitted he was focused on cleaning up Brisbane’s image.

“It’s too far to say we’ve got a culture problem,” he said in the lead-up to his one-year anniversary in the job.

“A fortnight ago, they were saying how good we were going (after a 2-0 start to the year). But that’s footy. It’s never as good as it looks and it’s never as bad as it seems.

“The players are good people, they’re well intentioned. But they can fall back into bad habits and behaviours at any time. That’s the journey we’re all on, it’s not where we’re heading or what we are.

“In this instance, they’ve let themselves down and they’re disappointed by that. We all are. We need to learn from it.

“Outside of that, the NRL Integrity Unit has a process to run and it’s important to let them do that.”

Payne Haas, pictured trained on Tuesday morning. Pics Tara Croser.

The scuffle with Kelly, in which Haas is clearly physical with his smaller teammate, is the third time the NSW Origin star has been investigated by the NRL’s Integrity Unit.

In 2019, Haas was suspended for four matches and fined $20,000 by the Broncos after he failed to co-operate fully with the Integrity Unit regarding an investigation into off-field incidents involving family members.

Early last year, Haas was fined $50,000 and banned for three-games by the NRL following an expletive-laden and threatening outburst at police officers in northern NSW.

At 22, Haas already has a lengthy rap sheet with the NRL, but teammate Ryan James said Haas was working hard to improve himself.

“If he had his time back he would have handled it differently,” James said.

BELOW: EVERY BRONCOS OFF-FIELD INCIDENT SINCE 2019

“Payne’s doing a lot of work on himself. The same as Albey. Now that they’ve had that in the past, they have to make up for it.

“I’ve seen teammates have discussions that get a bit heated. That’s just rugby league. If they had their time back, they’d look at it differently and handle it differently.

“They know what they’ve done has put a bad name on what the club’s been building. We have to move on.

“We’re working on it (culture) every day and we’ve got people from the outside coming in to help us build on that.

“We can only do so much as an older group. We need everyone to buy into the culture.”

Brisbane Broncos prop Ryan James says Payne Haas is trying to be better. Picture: Tara Croser.

The Broncos’ disdain for rules was never more apparent than in August, 2020, when 10 players were fined a total of $140,000 for breaching the code’s strict Covid protocols.

At the same time, Tevita Pangai Jr was stung for multiple Covid breaches and later released from his contract as part of a culture overhaul at Red Hill.

Shortly after last season’s completion, departing five-eighth Anthony Milford was locked up by police following a drunken altercation in Fortitude Valley. No longer contracted to the Broncos, Milford’s case is still before the courts.

Despite the litany of incidents, Broncos chairman Karl Morris said the board had no concerns about the playing group and played down the Haas-Kelly incident.

“I have no concerns about our culture at all,” he said.

“Dave Donaghy and Ben Ikin (football chief) have worked very hard in that space.

“This is a minor scuffle between two of our players. Our squad as a whole are well-behaved young men.”

Originally published as Brisbane Broncos culture crisis: Payne Haas-Albert Kelly bust-up the 12th off-field scandal in three years