Inside the extraordinary golden mausoleum for Origin star Payne Haas’ brother Chace

Over the past week, Payne Haas has become the most reviled figure in rugby league. But that doesn’t tell even a fraction of his incredible story, nor honor the life of his brother who tragically died last year.

It is one of the most raw, heartbreaking stories in Australian sport … involving one of the most complex, controversial families in the NRL.

Just last week, Payne Haas was the most reviled figure in rugby league.

The superstar prop was sensationally booed by his own Broncos fans after he dropped a bombshell on the club by asking for a release.

He is also one of the most polarising players in the code.

The 118kg enforcer has been embroiled in off-field incidents, including a drunken clash with police last year. In total, Haas has copped $70,000 in fines and seven games in suspensions from the NRL.

But amid the rap sheet lies the devastation of a tragedy that still cuts deep with Haas and his family.

This Wednesday night, Haas will run onto Sydney’s Accor Stadium in State of Origin I to honour the memory of his disabled brother Chace, an ardent Blues fan who died unexpectedly in August 2020.

“I think about him every day,” Haas said.

“People say it gets easier but it hasn’t really gotten easier to be honest. I have a daughter now and I wish she got to meet Chace.”

Payne Haas says he will step out for the Blues in honour of his brother, Chace. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Today, Haas’ father, Gregor, speaks for the first time about Chace’s shock passing.

He also reveals the extraordinary mausoleum, built on the family’s seven-hectare property in the Gold Coast hinterland, that houses Chace’s corpse in a gold coffin.

The Haas family were granted approval by Australian authorities to transport Chace’s body to their home on cultural grounds.

Exclusive pictures obtained by The Sunday Mail show a remarkable structure lined with gold, family photos and religious inscriptions. Chace loved Egyptian history.

Chace Haas’ gold-lined coffin.

On top of Chace’s gold-plated coffin is a NSW scarf, testament to his passion for the Blues that will live on in Haas in Origin I.

“Chace used to say to me he bleeds blue, so we had to have a NSW scarf over the top of his coffin,” Gregor says.

“It’s still hard to talk about losing Chace, it’s weird that he is gone.

“Even now as I talk, it hurts. We still cry about losing him. Every day we go into his mausoleum and visit him, but these days we try to think about the good things about his life more.

“Your kids are supposed to bury you … not the other way around.”

The coffin features a Blues scarf on top because Chace “bled Blue”.

Chace spent 20 years in a wheelchair after a car accident in 1999. At the time, Chace was five months old and the force of the collision snapped his spinal cord. Chace’s mother Joan was in the vehicle with Gregor, heavily pregnant.

“Payne was in her womb,” Gregor says. “So we called him Payne Lucky Haas … to remember the pain and I guess the fortune that we all survived.”

Despite Chace being rendered a quadriplegic – and requiring the support of a ventilator to help him breathe – Gregor and Joan expected him to live a long life.

They had built a separate home on their sprawling property for Chace, one of 10 kids, to live somewhat independently. Gregor, Joan and Chace had discussed plans to go on a road trip around Australia. Then, in a week-long ordeal two years ago, their plans and world caved in.

Chace Haas with his family.

Gregor recalls the agony of being offered the option of turning off his son’s life support.

“His death was not expected at all,” Gregor says.

“He has been to hospital more than a dozen times before with his breathing issues, but this time he died of respiratory failure.

“He had been given some antibiotics and he said, ‘Dad, this doesn’t feel right, this is hurting me so much in the chest. He then passed out and they had to revive him.

“Looking back, two days before he died, I could sense something wasn’t right. I could tell by the doctors’ body language that things weren’t good.

“Then one of the doctors said, ‘Do you want to let him go?’

“I said, ‘No way, I can’t kill my son. If I do this, he will kill me in our next life’.

“I had to let Chace fight for his life. In the end, we let him go as long as we could.”

The extraordinary mausoleum is located above the Haas’ family pool.

Chace’s golden resting place sits above the family pool. It was specifically placed there so Chace had a full view of the family home, including the driveway which a young Payne used as a quasi-running track, sprinting up it daily in his bid to become a professional rugby league player.

Now 22, Haas has a tattoo of Chace’s name inscribed on his leg.

“Everything happens for a reason in life and hopefully I am doing him proud,” Haas said.

“Like I said I still think of him every day, especially with the things I am going through now (with his contract spat with the Broncos).

“I relate that back to him and what he went through in life.

“Like I was saying, for some people in life this is nothing compared to what they go through.

“I always look back at him and it makes it a bit easier for me.”

Payne Haas’ parents Gregor and Joan.

Gregor recalls the many times when Payne and his other kids were forced to make sacrifices to accommodate Chace’s disability. Family trips to the Gold Coast beaches nearby were out, because as a child, Chace could not regulate his body temperature on stinking hot days.

Gregor and Joan also wrestled with the day Chace was old enough to ask why he couldn’t walk like millions of other kids.

“From the time he was a baby, we know he would go into a wheelchair,” Gregor says.

“So I used to have this piece of paper. I wrote down what I would tell Chace the day he asks me why he can’t walk.

“Incredibly, he never asked me.

“When Chace was 10, he heard a mate of mine ask me what’s it’s like for Chace not to be able to walk. Chace heard it and he said to my mate, “Can pigs fly?’. My mate said no pigs can’t fly.

“Chace then said well I can’t fly either so I’m alright.

“Chace was incredible like that. He always made people happy and he never whinged about his circumstances. He really was an amazing person. He was the inspiration of our family.”

Chace Haas (left) with Payne (bottom right).

The touching revelations shine a light of humanity on a Haas clan that has been in the news for the wrong reasons. In May 2019, Haas’ mum Joan was sentenced to two years’ jail after pleading guilty to assaulting a delivery driver in a road-rage attack.

She was granted immediate parole, with a magistrate considering the care needs of Chace in the verdict.

“The hardest thing we’ve had to live with is the judgement,” Gregor says.

“You walk down a shopping centre with Chace in a wheelchair and people stare. They constantly stare. But Joan loves her children and will always back her children and that’s why I love her.

“All the criticism of our family took a toll. It’s not easy to read and hear things about yourself on the news, but we’ve come to accept it knowing we love each other as a family and we stick together.

“I know Payne’s mum better than anyone and what people see in the media of her is not the full story.

“It’s not easy to raise a child with quadriplegia and Joan’s love for our kids is amazing.

“She would get up every day at 4am to cook breakfast for Payne and we would change Chace’s catheter morning and night.

“It’s not always easy, but the one thing Chace taught us is there is always someone worse off. His spirit was remarkable.”

Payne Haas says he will play for his brother in next week’s Origin opener. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Gregor said he and Joan had to navigate a number of hurdles with authorities to bring Chace’s body home to his resting place in the Gold Coast hinterland.

“It took us nearly 12 months to get Chace’s body,” he said.

“We had to get legal advice and write a letter to the council. We dealt with a funeral home and had to send all the relevant paperwork to the Gold Coast council.

“We requested Chace’s body come home on cultural grounds as Joan is Samoan.

“It wasn’t plain sailing that’s for sure. Having a big property helped our case.

“The mausoleum is an amazing structure. We started doing it on sketch paper and we researched history for the inscriptions on the walls. Chace loved history. He loved reading about the Egyptians and the Spartans, so we wanted to honour him in that way.

“Despite his issues, we weren’t expecting him to pass away at the age of 21. His life expectancy was quite good.

“We expected to die before him, not the other way around.”

Broncos player Payne Haas with family including his late brother Chace (left in wheelchair).

Whenever Haas pulls on a NSW jersey his brother is at the forefront of his mind. He will be again this week when he leads the Blues into battle at Accor Stadium, having become a fixture in the NSW side under Brad Fittler.

Fittler’s support came at an important time for Haas, who has put contract talks on hold until the end of the season.

“Chace would be going off about the boos but he would be happy I am in NSW – he loved NSW,” Haas said.

“He loved the Blues, and I think he would be happy I am in the team.

“Whenever I put on this jersey I think about him a bit more just because of how much he loved State of Origin and how much he loved the Blues. “

“When I run out there, I will be taking Chace with me.”

Originally published as Inside the extraordinary golden mausoleum for Origin star Payne Haas’ brother Chace