Broncos teen like Federer
Brisbane: An 18-year-old man mountain with a cardiovascular system Roger Federer would be proud of is set to be unleashed by the Brisbane Broncos in their opening trial clash with the CQ Capras in Theodore on Saturday night. Established Broncos forwards Alex Glenn, Korbin Sims and Andrew McCullough have been blown away by prop Payne Haas’s aerobic capacity at training for such a giant of a young man.
That comes as no surprise to his Keebra Park High School coach Glen Campbell who said his former pupil’s endurance even had him scratching his head.
“Payne is a quality kid, driven and he has a huge work rate because he has got a massive cardiovascular system, one that Roger Federer or any marathon runner would be proud of,” Campbell told NRL.com. “When he was at school with us he would win all our 800m and 1200m races, backs included.
“For a schoolboy who weighs 116 kilos and is six foot four, to be continually leading backs home on an 800m run is something special, so the Broncos certainly aren’t telling any lies.
“Payne has put the hard work in himself but how he does it is quite amazing, but he told me his dad has some Swiss heritage so maybe that has come down through the generations with their ability at cycling and cross-country skiing.” Haas, who played under 20s last year for Brisbane, has also made an impression on his Broncos teammates with his no-nonsense mentality, but it is his stamina everyone is talking about.
“Most of those endurance athletes like cross-country skiers and marathon runners have got a massive VO2 max and although I didn’t test Payne, his would be pretty impressive with how much oxygen his body could uptake per breathe,” Campbell said. “Cross-country skiers and marathon runners have a very high VO2 max.
“When we’d break our training up with some 8km runs Payne would always finish in the top three, so he was very impressive on that front.” Campbell said Haas would not let coach Wayne Bennett down in Saturday night’s trial when he starts in the front row. - NRL.com London: Former Kiwis rugby league prop Fuifui Moimoi has reinvented himself as a rugby union midfielder.
The 38-year-old was let go by English rugby league second-tier club Toronto Wolfpack after an “incident” last month.
But Moimoi, who had 12 tests for the Kiwis between 2007 and 2011 and has also represented American Samoa and his native Tonga, has bobbed up at the Bradford Bees rugby union team in Yorkshire on a pay-as-you-play contract while he searches for another league club. The 105kg veteran played at second five-eighths for the Bradford and Bingley Bees in English rugby’s sixth tier on Sunday. Moimoi joined the Yorkshire club through his friendship with a Bees club coach, according to the Bradford Telegraph and Argus.
The club tried to keep his signing under wraps before their visit to West Hartlepool, but it leaked out on social media.
Moimoi added some oomph to the Bradford midfield, but spilled the ball on his first touch, allowing West Hartlepool to scamper away for a 95m try to set up a 38-12 win.
But the league convert’s new coach was happy with his overall contribution.
“He did everything that we expected of him,” said the Bees’ director or rugby Martin Whitcombe told the Telegraph and Argus.
“He is playing for us through his friendship with Richard Tafa [Bees’ second-team coach] and we are just grateful to have him for as long as we can while he waits for another club.- Stuff