Ready for the major Payne
THE Maroons have found an Andrew Fifita “clone” and given a glimpse of the punishment the Blues beast can expect on Wednesday night.
Broncos under-20s giant and Bonogin junior Payne Haas was yesterday handed the dreaded task of pretending to be Fifita in a high-intensity opposed training session at Camp Maroon.
Haas is just 17 years old but weighs 117kg and stands at 194cm. Fifita is listed at 120kg and 194cm.
Haas, who played for NSW in the under-18s Origin, pulled on a yellow bib at Sanctuary Cove and every time he touched the ball the Maroons players could be heard screaming, “Fifita!”
Maroons lock Josh McGuire took it literally, crunching Haas in one tackle. In Game Two, McGuire and Fifita locked horns following a suspect legs tackle by the Queensland forward.
The Maroons did a good job containing Fifita in Origin II after he tore them apart in the series opener with a man-ofthe-match performance.
And his opposing front rower, Jarrod Wallace, said Queensland was determined to limit the entire NSW forward pack at the Suncorp Stadium decider.
“He (Haas) was a Fifita clone,” Wallace said.
“All of their forwards really,
Fifita, (Aaron) Woods, they’ve got a role they play and a really good offload.
“(David) Klemmer comes off the bench and does the same thing. They are aggressive, big boys.
“I don’t think we’re focusing too much on just one player. We’ve got a role to do on their whole middle forward pack.
“For us to get on the front foot and win the game we have to do a job right across the park. That’s what we’re more focused on.”
Fifita only managed 77m in Game Two and was critical of his performance, claiming he did not get enough ball from his playmakers.
Maroons forward Tim Glasby said he expected the NSW prop to bounce back.
“As a group we did a really good job on him but he still played a good game of footy,” Glasby said.
“He was a very solid contributor for the Blues. We’re expecting another big performance from him at Suncorp.
“Everyone did a good job in containing some of the damage he did in Game One. We will be looking to do that again as a group.”