By Nick Wright
Broncos great Sam Thaiday believes the club’s new game plan for Payne Haas will ensure he maintains his power for longer.
Since his 2018 debut, Haas has largely carried a Brisbane side struggling to make inroads, triggering fears his output would be his downfall.
But coach Michael Maguire has sought to alleviate those concerns, limiting Haas to an average game time of 53 minutes, compared with more than 58 during his injury-plagued 2024 season.
Payne Haas in action against the Roosters.Credit: Getty Images
His standards have not diminished – averaging 165 running metres and 6½ tackle busts per game, while leading the competition for offloads (11).
Thaiday told this masthead Maguire’s approach would not only extend Haas’ career, but likely keep him at Red Hill beyond his 2026 deal.
“It felt like as a 19-year-old, he was carrying the whole of the Broncos on his shoulders,” Thaiday said.
“His body is going to get banged around no matter what, and the level of commitment from Payne Haas from a representative point of view is only going to make his career tougher.
“I would love to see Payne Haas there for the next 10 years-plus playing some great, consistent footy. I don’t want his body to fall apart, and I understand playing in the front row is not an easy thing to do.
“Jason Taumalolo signed a 10-year deal with the Cowboys, and coming to the end of it now … his body is really slowing him down from being the player we all know he is.
“Hopefully in hindsight, we look back and say this was a brilliant idea to limit his minutes. That might be a way of preserving Payne Haas for a long-term future at the Broncos.”
Haas’ emphatic launch into 2025 comes as he serves the religious month of Ramadan, which requires fasting between sunrise and sunset.
As teammate Kobe Hetherington described Haas as “a freak of nature”, Pat Carrigan predicted the 25-year-old’s shorter bursts would not be a temporary experiment ahead of his clash with the Cowboys on Friday night.
Taumalolo, who has battled a degenerative knee problem, returned for the Mackay Cutters from a broken foot suffered in the Pacific Championships on Sunday, running for 102 metres while making 19 tackles ahead of his Cowboys’ comeback on Friday.
Criticism has followed the 31-year-old since his injury woes emerged – his running metres dipped from an average of 170 to just 113 last year – raising questions about the value of the multimillion-dollar contract he inked in 2017.
But his heroics for Tonga – averaging 148 running metres and four tackle busts last year – led former Cowboys premiership-winner James Tamou to declare him far from a spent force.
“He’s carried that team by himself a lot of the time. I think a lot of [the criticism] is unfair and unwarranted, people have a bit of a short memory,” he said.
“He’s the player that he is, a leader, and he’s got a lot of the young Polynesian crew who look up to him. He’s not just in the side doing nothing.
“The time off can only do him well.”
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