{"id":180269,"date":"2025-09-30T15:04:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T15:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/180269\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T15:04:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T15:04:07","slug":"hes-a-machine-payne-haas-could-be-nrls-most-compelling-character-and-a-grand-final-gamebreaker-brisbane-broncos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/180269\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018He\u2019s a machine\u2019: Payne Haas could be NRL\u2019s most compelling character \u2013 and a grand final gamebreaker | Brisbane Broncos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reece Walsh might be the face of the NRL<\/a>, a player whose skill is hard to ignore and his Hollywood demeanour downright impossible.<\/p>\n

But in his teammate Payne Haas, the NRL has its most compelling character and one who will give Brisbane the chance to ascend to the summit of the sport in Sunday\u2019s grand final against Melbourne.<\/p>\n

The Bronco\u2019s on-field feats are superhuman, headlined by stamina that allows him to play a full match in the trenches of Australia\u2019s toughest sport with the power to dominate even fresh opponents.<\/p>\n

As a teenager, Haas was due to move to Melbourne before a personal call from Wayne Bennett, who instead recruited him to the Broncos. \u201cI\u2019m just grateful that happened because I wouldn\u2019t have been on the journey I am now,\u201d Haas said. \u201cI\u2019m very lucky to be here now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some are calling the 25-year-old the greatest front rower to ever play the game, so his decision in August to switch allegiances from Australia to Samoa to represent his mother\u2019s family is set to heighten the renewed interest in the sport\u2019s international competition.<\/p>\n

Off the field, Haas\u2019s remarkable story of overcoming adversity includes him taking on the responsibility to care for his two younger brothers. Haas\u2019s mother is in jail over a car accident that killed three people, and his father was arrested in the Philippines on drug charges last year. Haas\u2019s older brother was a quadriplegic who died in 2020.<\/p>\n

The forward\u2019s early career was marked by a series of indiscretions, including pleading guilty to intimidating police in 2021. This week Haas has said he wants his family to live a life away from criminal influence. Yet he is one of several NRL players to spruik the clothing of a brand linked to Sydney\u2019s Alameddine crime family.<\/p>\n

Haas has promoted the R4W \u2013 or \u201cready for war\u201d \u2013 activewear brand this month, which borrows the name of the Alameddine network\u2019s \u201cReady 4 War\u201d group, and which used the provocative marketing tagline \u201c11th September, ground zero\u201d. The Bronco wore a T-shirt from R4W\u2019s sibling brand Proper in a photoshoot for the Sydney Morning Herald this week, which catalogued Haas\u2019s difficult upbringing. \u201cI don\u2019t want my kids to grow up in the environment I grew up around,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As grand final anticipation builds this week, Haas\u2019s endorsement is likely to gain greater attention. The NRL has been informed of the matter and a spokesperson said the governing body \u201cis collecting all relevant information\u201d. The Guardian has sought comment from Brisbane and Haas\u2019s agent.<\/p>\n

But the NRL media\u2019s focus on Haas has also been on his impact on the season decider.<\/p>\n

Haas after Brisbane\u2019s preliminary finals win over Penrith at Suncorp Stadium. Photograph: Dave Hunt\/AAP<\/p>\n

At the Broncos\u2019 media day on Monday, Haas was asked to respond to comments from the Storm prop Stefano Utoikamanu, who said some Brisbane players were \u201cstuck up\u201d<\/a>. Haas\u2019s response was measured. \u201cWe know who we are,\u201d he said. \u201cThey got this certain image of us down there, so it is what it is. We\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Utoikamanu serves as a useful comparison for highlighting Haas\u2019s place within the game. Both are New South Wales Origin players, and both are 25. The Storm player, who moved to Victoria ahead of this season, has emerged in the second half of this year as the best middle forward for the premiership favourites.<\/p>\n

But even he admits he is still well behind Haas. This season the Bronco leads all NRL forwards in average running metres per game with 169m, while Utoikamanu ran 110m. Haas averaged 63 minutes per game, almost 20 more than the Storm player. The Brisbane prop has missed fewer tackles and has a greater per-minute contribution, including securing vital metres after initial contact.<\/p>\n

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The former Bulldogs and Dragons forward James Graham sought to explain on his podcast this week why Haas\u2019s feats were so incredible. \u201cWhen I knew I was expected to play long minutes, I wasn\u2019t necessarily running in to burst tackles and bust through, you can\u2019t apply yourself like that \u2026 usually,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to knock out 80 minutes, you can\u2019t be fighting for every inch, trying to get post-contact metres. Payne Haas was just eating them up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haas played all 80 minutes of the game against Penrith, and made crucial contributions preventing the Panthers from scoring in the final stages.<\/p>\n

Utoikamanu, watching in Melbourne, was impressed. \u201cHe\u2019s such a gun player and he played the whole game, like fuck, he\u2019s a machine,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone else that big is going to be playing 80 minutes anytime soon. He\u2019s just a one of a kind player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haas said he had spoken to his mother this week, and that she was excited and happy for him. But he also told reporters she was not his only motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do it for all my family, not just my mum and dad. I\u2019ve got lots of cousins, aunties, and uncles I\u2019m doing it for, so I can\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reece Walsh might be the face of the NRL, a player whose skill is hard to ignore and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-180269","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}