Payne Haas Says “It Definitely Wasn’t the Training or the Coach” on His First Day as a Rabbitoh
Payne Haas has denied falling out with Broncos coach Michael Maguire, saying on his first day at South Sydney that he left Brisbane because staying had become too comfortable.
“It definitely wasn’t the training or the coach,” Haas told reporters on Monday, Fox Sports reported. “I think the thought of moving scared me and made me uncomfortable, and that’s why I really wanted to do it.”
Why he left a premiership club
Haas won the 2025 premiership with Brisbane and signed with Souths a few months later, which started talk of a rift with Maguire and the Broncos’ training loads.
“Leaving Brisbane, I could have just stayed there for the next five years, signed and been comfortable,” he said. “I didn’t want to have any regrets. I pulled the trigger, I’m glad I did, and I’m here now ready to earn respect. I feel uncomfortable, but I’m ready to be uncomfortable.”
He was blunt about the noise. “I don’t really care what people think, to be honest. People close to me and people up there know the real reason.”
The finger that cost him the World Cup
Haas ran fitness drills on Monday but cannot do contact work until January. He played the whole season with two damaged fingers.
“It’s called a boutonniere. It’s when your tendons rip off from the top and your fingers start going like that,” he said. “I was playing with that since round one, and I just wanted to keep going for the boys. It was a sacrifice I made, sacrificing playing in the World Cup, because I wanted to finish off the year with my best mates at the Broncos.”
He is out for four months and came back to training early because he will be away in December for his wedding.
Back with Bennett
Haas joins Wayne Bennett, who gave him his NRL debut at the Broncos in 2018, and a pack with Cameron Murray. Latrell Mitchell and Haas’s brothers are also at the club, and Haas said joining the club he supported as a boy felt surreal.
Souths may not be finished. Campbell Graham said the same day he would welcome Sam Walker at the Rabbitohs. Haas missed the World Cup, where Australia meet New Zealand in Sunday’s final; our final kick-off times page has the details.
