Brisbane has been left shaken, with star player Payne Haas formally approached by Rugby Australia (RA) officials keen to entice him to switch to the 15-man code.
Ahead of the side’s game against South Sydney on Friday night, News Corp revealed that RA supremo Hamish McLennan approached the Haas camp.
It would be a great code change for the superstar, whose form to start the season is so impressive that he is two points clear at the top of the Dally M Medal standings.
No formal offer has yet been put on the table, but he tops McLennan’s burgeoning hit list of players he wants to take away from the NRL.
Payne (Haas) could certainly wear Wallaby gold. We really like Payne. He has a strong rugby background and it’s probably time for him to spread his wings and do something really special,” he said.
Broncos prop Payne Haas has been approached by Rugby Australia officials to switch code
Haas’ father Gregor (right, pictured with his son on the 2019 Dally M Medal) has admitted that code-swapping is a very real possibility
Haas played rugby as a junior, and RA’s approach to the star will increase the pressure on the Broncos to hold on to their prop – having already rejected a request to release him from his contract last season.
The mountain of 195cm, 117kg man is still only 23 and could thrive in the second row or number eight in the 15-man code – and his father Gregor recently admitted that a code switch is a very real possibility.
“Rugby is something Payne would seriously look into,” he told the Courier MaiI.
“It’s not a lie about rugby. They’re certainly excited… there are a few clubs abroad that are excited. The world is a big place.
“Payne likes rugby league and the Broncos, but he played rugby as a kid.
People love rugby in Australia, but they don’t look at the bigger picture. The NRL is very small compared to rugby, which is a world sport.’
Out of contract at the end of next year, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play in a Lions tour in 2025 and a World Cup home in 2027 is a tantalizing prospect for any player – including Haas.
Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has approached the Haas camp in an attempt to get the Broncos coach to switch codes
And McLennan knows it. In his own words, he was not ‘deterred by aggressive rugby league types’ (read: NRL chairman Peter V’landys).
“There is a lot of discussion about (NRL) players coming to us and we can provide an experience that rugby league cannot. We are a global game,” said McLennan.
‘In rugby, we’ve been hiding our light under a bushel for too long against an aggressive competitor (the NRL).
“The Lions in 2025 is a real tour and convincing the Australian government to host the Rugby World Cup in 2027, the world’s third largest sporting event, is real.”
Someone who understands very well what Haas has to consider when thinking about switching codes is his ex-teammates Ben Te’o.
Te’o switched codes midway through his career, eventually representing England under current Wallabies coach Eddie Jones.
Could Payne Haas (left) follow in the footsteps of Roosters superstar Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (right) and switch codes?
Despite hopes of staying in the NRL and winning a premiership with Brisbane, Te’o said he had no doubt Haas would succeed in the union, albeit with some initial struggles.
“I have no doubt that Payne would succeed at rugby because of the God-given gifts he has. I believe he is unique,” he said.
“But I think he has unfinished business in rugby league.
“The other thing to consider is that it’s not as easy as putting on a Wallabies jersey and taking on the British and Irish Lions.
“It’s a foreign game and Payne has a lot to learn.”
McLennan, Jones and RA have already staged a massive coup, convincing Roosters whiz kid Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii – a rugby union prodigy as a youngster – to switch codes at the end of the 2024 NRL season for an astonishing $4 deal .8 million.
You get the feeling that this is just the first of many.