Broncos star Payne Haas reveals father’s big extradition victory in alleged drug trafficking saga

In an emotionally-charged interview, Broncos superstar Payne Haas provides a telling update on his father’s fight to avoid the death penalty after being arrested on alleged drug trafficking charges in the Philippines.

Payne Haas with Gregor at the Dally M Awards.

Broncos rugby league star Payne Haas has spoken of his fears for his father Gregor and hopes the Australian government can join forces with the Philippines to save him from the death penalty.

In an exclusive interview with this masthead, Haas opened up about his latest family ordeal that has prompted the NRL superstar to take custody of his two brothers as his father fights to avoid death row in Indonesia.

Haas’ world was plunged into chaos last May when Gregor was charged by Indonesian authorities with allegedly trafficking 5kg of crystal methamphetamine from Mexico to Jakarta in December 2023.

Haas Snr has vehemently denied the charges.

He also denies having alleged links to Mexico’s infamous Sinaloa drug cartel.

He is currently being held in Manila’s notorious Camp Bagong immigration detention facility, where Haas’ legal representatives allege the 47-year-old – who weighed 105kg when he met this masthead for an interview two years ago before moving overseas – has lost 30 kilograms.

Indonesian investigators want to extradite Haas and are applying political pressure for Gregor to be transferred to Jakarta, where he would likely face trial and, possibly, the death penalty.

Gregor Haas was detained in Philippines. Source: Instagram.

It was reported last month that Haas had secretly applied for Filipino citizenship via his mother, Payne’s grandmother Soledad, who was born in the Philippines.

Against this backdrop, Haas, just turned 25, is facing a torment few Australian sports stars have confronted.

The Broncos star is not only dealing with the pressure of taking on his two younger brothers, but has just welcomed his second baby, a son … all while his mother, Joan Taufua, remains in a Brisbane women’s prison awaiting trial following a road accident that killed three people in December 2022.

In one of the most candid interviews of his career, Haas confirmed Gregor is now a dual Australian and Filipino citizen, and appealed for immigration bosses to keep his dad alive.

“Yes, he is a Filipino citizen now which is a huge win for him,” Haas said.

“Hopefully that helps his cause and he can come back.

“It’s hard to say too much about the situation because of the legal process, but all I can do is hope he’s OK and it works out for him.

“It’s been hard. I’m just hoping dad is in good hands and that the people looking after his case can help him.

“As a family, we have to trust he will be safe.”

This masthead is the only media outlet in the world to have conducted a face-to-face interview with Gregor prior to his arrest.

SON’S PAYNE

In April 2023, Haas Snr met this masthead at a Gold Coast restaurant, where he opened up about the trauma of one of Australia’s most shocking and distressing stories of 2022.

On December 30 that year, as millions of Australians were preparing for New Year’s Eve celebrations, tragedy struck when Payne’s mother Joan was at the centre of a high-speed car crash at Bonogin, just minutes from the Haas family home on the Gold Coast.

Three people were killed.

Taufua survived … just.

The 46-year-old was accused of the manslaughter of Susan Zimmer, 70, her partner Chris Fawcett, 79, and her daughter Steffanie Zimmer, 35.

With Taufua still in custody, Gregor ostensibly became a single father.

He took care of six of the couple’s nine school-aged children (their 10th, quadriplegic son and Payne’s brother, Chace, died of respiratory failure in August 2020).

Upon meeting Gregor, muscular and heavily tattooed, he could easily pass as a nightclub bouncer. Like Payne, his figure was formidable at more than six feet tall and 105kg, but upon closer inspection, his fingernails and toenails were covered in purple glitter nail polish, courtesy of his youngest child.

Gregor Johann Haas after his arrest in the Philippines. Picture: 10News

“You can blame that on Gypsy (Payne’s younger sister),” he says. “I haven’t had time to wipe it off.”

He admitted his partner’s saga, and life as a single dad, pushed him to breaking point.

“It’s f***ed,” he said at the time.

“Joan did so much day to day and I’m coping the best I can.

“I’m still trying to figure things out every day.”

Within months, he suddenly and mysteriously left Australia for a life overseas, telling his champion Broncos son he had offshore business interests.

Payne Haas still recalls the devastation of the events of May 17, 2024.

The NSW State of Origin prop learned Gregor had been arrested by Indonesian police following a months-long sting.

Gregor was accused of shipping more than 5000 grams of methamphetamine, hidden in ceramic tiles, from Guadalajara in Mexico to Jakarta in December 2023.

Payne Haas opens up about his dad's drug hell. Credit: Anthony Reginato

That same day, the Broncos were due to play Manly in Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium. Broncos hierarchy offered a shattered Haas the opportunity to sit out the game, but he declined and took the field, starring in Brisbane’s 13-12 victory.

That performance alone was testament to Haas’ constitution, and the unexpected custodial and parental burden he has since been forced to bear.

“I was pretty shocked with what happened, of course,” Haas says of Gregor’s arrest.

“I can’t speak to him due to what’s going on.

“He keeps in contact with some people close to me.

“I never wanted to see him go through anything like this.

“I do worry about him.

“I’m trying not to dwell on what’s happened because he and mum aren’t around and it’s on me to look after the boys.”

HISTORY OF PAYNE

Haas is mindful of the brickbats his family has copped over a series of off-field scandals, not least his own, when he was fined $50,000 by the NRL for abusing a female police officer in an alcohol-fuelled rage in 2021.

Since that indiscretion, Haas has been a cleanskin.

He had his first child, a daughter Lalita, three months later and shunned alcohol with the support of his friend and mentor, NRL legend Sonny Bill Williams, who helped with Haas’ conversion to Islam in 2019.

“From the path he has to walk and endure, to see him rise above that and shine is an inspiration,” Williams said.

“He hasn’t been perfect at times, but Payne is learning as he goes and I know that path and struggle.

“Islam teaches you to continually improve in the continuous pursuit of improving oneself, not just in your daily life but as a man from a spiritual point of view.

“It’s quite humbling when people say I have helped Payne. I don’t consider myself his mentor. I am just proud to call him my Muslim brother.

“Payne is a big Teddy bear really.

The Broncos star is mentored by Sonny Bill Williams. Picture: David Martinelli

“He is a great human with a big heart and that’s the thing he needs to concentrate on, leaning in with his heart but understanding the blessing of the talent that he has.

“He can transform a lot of people’s lives just by being himself.”

Payne is the first to concede his family’s backstory is as complex as it is controversial.

In his younger years, Gregor was once an army chef. He and Joan were childhood sweethearts, but their lives were turned upside down in 1999.

Gregor and Joan were passengers in a car that slammed into a tree on a Canberra highway. The driver, a friend, was killed instantly. Joan, who was heavily pregnant at the time with Payne in her womb, stumbled out of the wreckage.

Gregor, briefly unconscious, woke to find Joan holding their five-month-old son Chace, Payne’s older brother, strapped into a baby seat in the back of the car.

The impact of the crash snapped his spinal cord.

Chace was a ventilated quadriplegic up until his sudden death at age 21, a passing the Haas family did not expect, sending Payne into a dark spiral.

Gregor at a shrine commemorating Chace Haas.

“That’s why Payne has his first name and his middle name is Luckee,” Gregor told this masthead in April 2023 before he headed overseas.

“The pain of that moment and the fact he is lucky to be alive.

“When I look back now at that accident, I think, ‘How the f*** did we get through all this?

“It changed our lives in a big way.

“It took us six months to recover from that crash. I still vividly remember staring at the tree right in front of me.

“It took ages for Chace to get a diagnosis. He was in hospital for a good 12 months. We knew from the moment he was old enough he would spend his life in a wheelchair.”

Last December, Payne welcomed his second child and first son with his fiancee Lani. They named him Luckee. He was born on December 5. Payne was born on December 2, 1999.

“It’s been great. I love being a dad,” Haas says.

“Lani is doing a lot of work at the moment, but I’m very grateful to her.

“We’re coping well. Having a second child now is a bit easier for us. We know what to do. He is sleeping well and eating a lot which helps.

“I’m done now, no more kids for us,” Haas adds with a laugh.

“I’ve got my two brothers as well now as part of the family, so we’re done.”

STEPPING UP

Gregor’s struggle is compounded for Haas because of the deep roots of their relationship. It was Gregor who imparted the work ethic for Payne to shoot for the sporting stars.

When Payne was 12, Gregor would drive to a local park and make his son run lap after lap.

In later years, the Haas family home had a 400-metre long driveway with a slight elevation. Gregor would instruct Payne to sprint up the driveway, building the aerobic engine that now makes him one of the NRL’s fittest forwards.

When Chace died unexpectedly, Gregor and Payne cried and grieved together.

“His death hit us hard,” Gregor recalled.

“I remember one of the doctors saying, ‘Do you want to let him go?’ I said, ‘No way, I can’t kill my son’.

“In the end, we let him go as long as we could.

“We still think about him every day. Every day.”

It’s why the stupefying, grainy images of Gregor lying prostrate on a pavement, seized upon by Indonesia police, and a picture of him looking emaciated in the Manila detention facility have rocked Payne to his core.

Asked to describe the Gregor he knows, Payne says: “Dad is the man who looked after his kids.

“He always tried his best to provide for us.

Brisbane Broncos player Payne Haas is the legal guardian for his younger brothers Geejay, 12, and Hans, 14, pictured with Haas' 3-year-old daughter Lalita. Photo: Supplied.

“He had his own challenges when we were growing up but he was always there for us.”

Now, without Gregor and Joan, Payne is determined to be a paragon of solidity for his brothers, Geejay, 13, and Hans, 15, the latter of whom has recently signed a development contract with the Broncos.

“I have loved taking them on,” he said.

“I need to be a father figure for them because my parents aren’t around.

“I think a lot of people know the reasons why they aren’t around.

“My dad is overseas with his issues. I am still their brother, so I like to have fun with them, but I also have to provide some discipline as well.

“They have been really good and they are helping with my own kids, so we’re a tight family.”

While Haas has not spoken to his father, he remains in regular contact with his mum. He is trying to shield his brothers from a painful legal imbroglio few teenagers could truly process.

“I’ve spoken to mum a couple of times the last few weeks,” he said.

“It’s nice to be able to talk to her.

“She is in high spirits and she is pretty happy. She is waiting for the football to kick-off and see what happens.”

Payne says Joan and Gregor would be over the moon about Hans signing with the Broncos. The Brisbane bookend’s younger brother, Klese, 22, is also playing NRL at the Gold Coast Titans.

Given Payne’s age, it is conceivable he could play NRL for at least another eight years, sufficient time for Hans to graduate at the Broncos as part of a Haas family trilogy.

“Hans has signed for three years. It’s pretty cool,” Haas said.

“I am proud of him. There’s a lot of work for him to do.

“He is playing with Easts Tigers (junior league). He is a second-rower, he is a bit leaner than me which is good. He loves the game. I bring him to training sometimes and the boys love their footy and being around it.

“It’s good to see and hopefully he plays NRL one day.

“I do get sad for my brothers. I don’t want them to see the things that I saw as a kid and be around the certain things I was around.

“It’s been hard on them to deal with all this, but I’m just blessed that Lani is so understanding and has had my back through all of this.

“I’m lucky that I’m in a good sport now where I can actually help them, put them on the right path and give them a headstart in life.”

Payne Haas with daughter Lalita. Picture: NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous

Given the pain and turbulence of his ordeal, Haas operates in a close circle. Often invited out by Broncos teammates for drinks and dinner, he politely declines, preferring to stay home with his partner, kids and brothers. He puts trust in a few confidantes, such as his manager Ahmad Merhi and “Muslim brother” Sonny Bill.

“Sonny has helped me a lot,” Haas said.

“I see him as my role model and looking up to him helps me a lot in where I want to go in life and what I want to get out of football.

“Sonny is not the only guy, there’s been a number of people who have helped.

“I still talk to Sonny a lot actually. It’s great to have someone of his stature to lean on, someone who has been there and done that in the NRL and the All Blacks.

“The main advice he gives me is to be my own man and find my purpose in life.

“To have that sort of guidance from someone of Sonny’s stature and ability is massive.”

Haas knows there are painful and challenging days ahead. The death penalty is a bona fide outcome for Gregor and Joan could face a lengthy stint behind bars.

Haas, now touted as a future Broncos captain, finds solace in his own reformation, determined to break his family’s behavioural patterns and give his dependants the chance to carve out their own successes without the public judgment he has endured.

“What helps me is staying in the present,” he says.

“I’m a professional footballer and that’s my job. When I go to training, I focus on football, but I have a good support network with my partner Lani. She helps keep me grounded.

“I’m proud of how I have matured as a person. I have spoken to my partner about this.

“When I was 18 or 19, I made some stupid decisions and I could have gone down the wrong path totally, but everything I’ve been through has forced me to grow up on and off the field.

“Once upon a time, I wasn’t a good role model to be honest. But you grow up in life and all I care about now is raising good kids with manners and good morals who treat people well.”

Originally published as Broncos star Payne Haas reveals father’s big extradition victory in alleged drug trafficking saga