The Brisbane Broncos are expected to stave off serious interest from several NRL heavyweights to keep rugby league’s best prop, Payne Haas, on the books through to at least 2027 by making him the equal highest-paid prop in the competition.
Haas, who will play his 100th game for the club this weekend, should put pen to paper on the three-year extension sometime before the end of the month.
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The Sporting Base has heard there are a few kinks to sort out, but Haas is eager to stick around with the Broncos into the future and is enjoying his footy at Red Hill right now. His management did have early conversations with clubs like the Melbourne Storm, Sydney Roosters, Canterbury Bulldogs, and St George Illawarra Dragons—though nothing formal—but the 23-year-old is happy to stick with his current club, especially if they can pay him five figures.
The pay increase, which will see his $850,000 deal for next year bumped up a little too, puts him level with Addin Fonua-Blake at the Warriors as the highest-paid props in the game. David Fifita, who plays second row, rounds out the only three forwards on that much pay.
Other million-dollar stars include Kalyn Ponga ($1.4 million), Nathan Cleary and Cameron Munster ($1.3m), and Daly Cherry Evans and Mitchell Moses ($1.2m).
The only hooker in that elite group is Melbourne’s representative rake, Harry Grant.
It’s been reported Melbourne was very interested in bringing Haas south to link up with Grant, Munster, and the rest of Craig Bellamy’s outfit from 2024, but talks around rugby league circles have quickly shifted to have Brisbane far in the lead in recent days.
It’s not just reports coming out of the media either, with coach Kevin Walters suggesting things are already in motion while speaking about his football squad on the radio last round.
“We expect to re-sign Payne within the next couple of weeks,” Walters said on Triple M radio on Sunday.
“That’s not something I’m managing, it’s others in the club looking after that. We’re very confident we can maintain and keep Payne long-term at the club. He is playing some of the best football of his career and is still only 23.”
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The Broncos coach continued: “We’ve got a few other guys coming through like Ezra Mam, Reece Walsh, Selwyn Cobbo, Kotoni Staggs, Pat Carrigan… we expect to retain all of those guys and keep them here long-term. That’s how I see things. If we can provide a good, fun environment for them to come to work in, that’s half the battle.
“I’m very confident we can hang on to all those guys we need to.”
