Warriors feel Payne of one that got away
WARRIORS players stood there in awe, wide eyes conveying their shock.
The young gun was all of 16 years old. He had just arrived in New Zealand, some kid from Aussie with bulging muscles and NRL stars in his eyes.
Within weeks of walking into Mt Smart Stadium, here he was, rag-dolling Warriors forwards 10 years his senior.
The Warriors backs were loving it. They stood back during the wrestling drills, chuckling as the teen freak unleashed his fury on the Warriors’ baddest, meanest forwards.
“Who is this kid,” hollered a shell-shocked Warriors star.
“Payne Haas,” replied a Warriors development officer. “Remember the name.”
The year was 2016, and Haas was a complete unknown from the Gold Coast who had moved suddenly to New Zealand. Contracted to the Titans, Haas was having some issues at the club and his family requested a release for personal reasons.
Haas received information that the Warriors offered a great development system, so his family purchased a oneway ticket and sent the then 113kg giant across the ditch for some career mentoring.
How the Warriors must wish Haas never left.
Fast forward three years and the Warriors still remember the name.
The entire NRL world knows his name. Now, Haas comes with a reputation: Brisbane’s biggest player at 118kg, being touted as a NSW bolter for Origin I after just 10 firstgrade games.
This Saturday night, Broncos prop Haas returns to Mt Smart Stadium to face the team that was once his home, ready to once again terrorise the Warriors forwards.
“I went to the Warriors for a year and they were good to me,” Haas said. “I can’t wait to go over there and play them this week.
“I actually enjoyed my time there. The club were great for me, I had heard they had good development for young players so that’s why myself and my family decided to send me to New Zealand.
“I only came back because I was young, I was homesick and I wanted to be close to my family again.”
If he is picked for NSW this Sunday night, Haas will play in Origin I aged 19 years and 185 days.
In the past fortnight, Haas has charged for a staggering 442 metres in two games. Last week, he torched the premiers, scoring a rampaging solo try – the first four-pointer of his embryonic NRL career.
He’s already been compared to Petero Civoniceva with his bulk and 194cm frame.
The agent who spotted him Chris Orr, who also manages Cowboys wrecking ball Jason Taumalolo, believes he will dominate the code.
“He will be a 10-year NRL veteran easily,” said Orr of the PSM agency.
“Payne will play at all the highest levels. He is an elite kid. He doesn’t get flustered for a young guy. He’s never nervous. He’s just so calm, and so fit.”