The Brisbane Broncos face the possibility that Xavier Willison could follow Payne Haas to the South Sydney Rabbitohs if they don’t meet his asking price for a contract extension from 2028 onward.
The club has been in talks with Willison since July, but has had a $900,000-a-year contract offer that would have run to the 20230 NRL season knocked back recently.
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Beyond that mooted $2.7 million extension, the Broncos have been quite slow to table anything for the boom forward. Whether they think that Willison actually rates as a seven-figure player remains to be seen.
Now, in a more concerning development for the brass at Red Hill, the highly-rated 24-year-old has swapped to a new manager, Ahmad Merhi, who already handled the blockbuster $3.6 million deal that has seen Haas exit the Broncos to link up with Wayne Bennett and the Bunnies in Redfern.
The Sporting Base understands the Rabbitohs are very eager to poach Willison — which is no great surprise — and have already begun scooping out space in the salary cap for 2028 and beyond in their planning.
Between Haas (26), Willison (24), and Tallis Duncan (24), with whom Souths are now negotiating, the team’s forward pack would be set for years to come.
The Rabbitohs do have several other stars that they may need to speak to about contract extensions as well, especially Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell, but both are still a question mark at South Sydney HQ — some in the building believe the money that each would ask for could be better used across the squad.
Most of that has been put on freeze until the end of the season, though, with the South Sydney Rabbitohs now preparing to play the Newcastle Knights in a sixth-vs-seventh do-or-die finals clash on Friday evening. Duncan’s ongoing conversations are the only negotiations that survived the freeze.
Should Bennett’s Bunnies beat Newcastle on Friday, they’ll then face New Zealand or Redcliffe.
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