PAIN FOR PAYNE AFTER TWEED ARREST
‘Ashamed’ Haas out of captaincy frame following arrest
AN “ASHAMED” Payne Haas has crashed out of contention to captain the Broncos after the State of Origin star was arrested for intimidating police following a drunken argument with his partner.
Haas will face court in northern NSW next month after being detained by police in Tweed Heads on Saturday night.
The 21-year-old Test and Origin player and his pregnant partner were approached by patrolling police at Jack Evans Boat Harbour, near the Queensland-NSW border, about 10pm.
Haas is alleged to have become verbally abusive towards police and was arrested, charged and released.
He will face Tweed Heads Local Court on February 2 after being charged with using offensive language and intimidating police.
The Broncos said Haas was “ashamed and extremely remorseful” for his actions.
“It’s disappointing and not acceptable – we do set the highest standards for the behaviour of our players, they understand that and Payne knows this is well short of those standards,” said Broncos CEO Paul White.
“Payne knows he has done the wrong thing and is prepared to take ownership of his actions.
“As a club, we will continue to work with Payne to ensure he understands what he must do to improve, and also ensure he continues to receive the support and education that he needs.”
The incident is a blow to the Broncos under new coach Kevin Walters as they attempt to fight back from last year’s horror wooden spoon season.
Haas has been the Broncos’ player of the year for the past two seasons and is an integral part of the team.
But the NRL Integrity Unit is now investigating the incident, which could result in Haas being suspended for the early rounds of the season, which begins in March.
Haas was also in the captaincy mix, with incumbent skipper Alex Glenn in danger of being stripped of the duty as part of Walters’ rebuild.
However that now appears unlikely following what was an unsavoury incident in the leadup to the 2021 NRL season.
Haas, who has previously claimed to follow the Islamic faith, announced in November he was expecting his first child, a daughter, in May this year.
The pregnancy was a positive for Haas following the death of his older brother Chace in August, which left the Haas family shattered.
It is not the first time Haas has been embroiled in controversy.
He was fined $20,000 and suspended for the opening four games of the 2019 NRL season for failing to comply with an NRL Integrity Unit investigation.
Haas refused to properly answer questions from investigators about off-field incidents involving his family following complaints from the public.
Later that year, Haas became unwittingly involved in teammate David Fifita’s Bali arrest.
Haas and Fifita were holidaying together on the Indonesian island when the latter was detained for three days.
Haas was interviewed by the NRL again over the incident, but was cleared of any wrongdoing. Fifita was not suspended after investigators had difficulty obtaining information.
Now a 41-game NRL player, key figures at the Broncos believe Haas is one of the team’s outstanding leaders and he was part of the club’s leadership group under former coach Anthony Seibold.
However his run-in with police has harmed his chances of formally leading the Broncos in the short-term as Brisbane looks to bounce back from the worst season in the club’s 33-year history.