BRONCOS FIND HAAS A MENTOR
LEGENDARY GOOD BLOKE STEPS IN
BRONCOS legend Petero Civoniceva has been given the job of helping strife-prone prop Payne Haas manage his offfield behaviour as new head coach Kevin Walters comes to terms with the first major headache of his NRL tenure.
Haas on Saturday night was arrested and charged with offensive language and intimidating police at Tweed Heads.
The 21-year-old is yet to be sanctioned by the club or the NRL as he prepares for his court date, which will be early next month.
Walters said he was “disappointed” to hear about the incident involving one of his star players just months out from the season opener in March.
The new Broncos head coach said club great Civoniceva — who was recently appointed Brisbane’s wellbeing support coordinator — would support Haas through this latest controversy.
“Certainly, Petero will be spending some time with Payne,” Walters said.
“He’s done that already but he’ll be spending more time with him.
“That’s one of the reasons Petero is in our staff now because he’s good with players and good with people.
“What happens on the field, is equally important with what happens off the field.
“It’s all of our responsibility to get around Payne and support him and making sure he’s taking the right steps so that it never happens again.”
Haas attended Broncos training at Red Hill on Monday, with Civoniceva also involved on the field.
The incident is the first offfield drama of Walters’ NRL coaching career at Red Hill and a blow ahead of the 2021 season.
However, Walters said he wasn’t prepared to let controversy derail his Broncos overhaul.
“I, like everyone else at the Broncos, I am disappointed with the actions of Payne the other night,” he said.
“We’ve got to make sure Payne learns from this and he’s put up his hand and admitted he’s made a mistake.
“I don’t consider it a setback.
“It’s one of those things that have happened and one we have to own as a club.
“We’re trying to get everything right with the
NRL Integrity
Unit to make sure it’s done quickly, efficiently and promptly.”
Broncos boss
Paul White said the onus was now on Haas to learn from his mistake.
“Petero can play a role, he’s already doing that,” White said.
“We do have good support systems in place but the test now is for Payne.
“The test isn’t for Kevvie Walters, it’s for Payne Haas and how he handles this and what he learns from it.”