Player of year pledges loyalty
‘I LOVE THE BRONCOS’: HAAS AT HOME IN BRISBANE
PAYNE Haas has made two big calls on his future: pledging his loyalty to the Broncos and withdrawing from the World Cup to be at peak fitness for Brisbane’s premiership tilt next season.
In the wake of his fourth successive Paul Morgan Medal win at the club’s awards presentation night on Tuesday, Haas ended six months of speculation about his future, insisting he had no plans to walk out on the Broncos over his contract dispute.
And to prove his commitment to the Broncos, Haas has personally pulled out of Australia’s World Cup campaign – starting next month in England – to ensure he is fully fit in body and mind for Brisbane’s 2023 season.
Haas dropped a bombshell on the Broncos in May when his management asked for an immediate release from his $3m deal, which expires in 2024, a request that was flatly rejected by Brisbane bosses.
The parties agreed to revisit the contract stand-off at season’s end, fuelling fears Brisbane’s No. 1 player could quit the Broncos to chase a big payday at a Sydney club.
But after clinching yet another Paul Morgan Medal, Haas insisted he would not be asking for a fresh release and confirmed he would be in Broncos colours in 2023.
“I have never said I wanted out of the club,” Haas said.
“I love the Broncos, I love the people here, I have made lifelong mates.
“I am still contracted here until 2024, so I am still here and I want to do well at the Broncos.
“I have been here through the rough times and I can see the good times coming.”
Haas will become Brisbane’s highest-paid player next season on $848,000.
His management was re seeking in excess of $1m a season, and Haas’s latest playerof-the-year win – equalling Allan Langer with four consecutive victories – has given his agents more bargaining power. But when asked if he believed he would be at Brisbane next season, Haas was emphatic: “I do,” he said.
“I am contracted here. Brisbane is good for me, I have my family here, my Mum and Dad are down the road. I am pretty sure we can sort things out.”
The NSW Origin enforcer said he was always committed to Australia for the World Cup, after speculation he was considering pledging his allegiance to Samoa, but had withdrawn for injury and family reasons, the latter relating to his mother, Joan, who was jailed a fortnight ago for assaulting casino security guards.
Haas, who battled two shoulder injuries during the NRL season, said he wanted to remain in Brisbane to not only heal his battered body, but support his family amid his mother’s incarceration.