Former Broncos coach Kevin Walters has sensationally claimed Payne Haas wouldn’t have left Brisbane if he was still coach, pinning the blame on Michael Maguire and stoking rumours that the top prop left due to a rift with the premiership-winning coach.
Walters coached the Broncos for four years, rebuilding them from cellar dwellers to premiership contenders. Under his leadership, they went incredibly close to winning a title in 2023, leading Penrith by 16 points in the NRL grand final, before a Nathan Cleary masterclass saw the Panthers come back and win a memorable final.
Walters was then sacked after a poor 2024 campaign that saw them finish 12th, with Maguire coming in and leading the Broncos to a premiership in his first season in charge in 2025.
However, just months after the grand final triumph, Haas revealed he was leaving the club, signing with the Rabbitohs on a three-year deal from 2027.
After the news broke, rumours emerged that Haas had fallen out with Maguire. While that was shut down by both Haas and the club, Walters says it never would have happened if he were the coach.
“If I was coaching in the NRL, he would be one of the first players I would target, so hats off to Wayne Bennett. He has fallen in his hands, it’s great for the Souths fans,” Walters said on the Inside Ball podcast, before turning his attention to Maguire.
“It is a bit strange without knowing the full details and facts. Normally, when your club wins a premiership and they have been to two grand finals in three years, the value of your players rises, it’s constantly rising with the salary cap and you are constantly under pressure to keep players.
“But Payne Haas is the peg in the ground, a long-term player. If you have Payne Haas in your stable, you do not lose Payne Haas. He is the world’s best prop and anyone who wants to argue that doesn’t know rugby league. It is puzzling why he has left. I don’t think it was about money, so what was it about? We are probably never going to know.
“He bleeds Brisbane. It’s just one of those mysteries. Some of the Souths players thought it was April Fool’s Day.
“It will never be revealed the exact reasons, it will just stay underwater.”
Walters said he had spoken to Haas since the news broke, revealing the hulking prop was under some stress but is okay.
While Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy blamed Haas’s exit on the distraction of R360 and shut down rumours that they had lowballed the star prop.
“I think it’s an easy thing to throw peanuts from the cheap seats, but ultimately Payne and his agent and myself have been dealing with those behind closed doors for the best part of nine months,” he said.
“I think unfortunately, rugby union might have done a job on us at this time, where probably for the first time ever, the R360 discussions were played out more in the media than in reality.
“Potentially it could’ve played a role in I suppose Payne seeing himself in doing something else other than playing in a Broncos jersey, which he’s done so ever since he was 18.
“We presented a few options to Payne’s people. We were working towards a shorter term extension, but for reasons and factors outside of our control he’s decided to not continue at the club at the end of the year.”
The Broncos and Haas’ attention now turns to the World Club Challenge against Hull KR in England next weekend before their premiership defence kicks off against the Panthers at Suncorp Stadium on March 6.
Originally published as Kevin Walters says Michael Maguire at fault for Payne Haas’ Brisbane Broncos exit