This time last year, when Payne Haas announced he wanted to leave the Broncos, there were some club supporters who said they should let him go, that he wasn’t worth the trouble. No-one is saying that now. After the season the 23-year-old front rower has had so far, he is worth everything Brisbane can give him, and then some.
 
So now the big question for Kevin Walters and the Broncos isn’t ‘do we want him?’ It’s ‘how do we keep him?’ The club has reportedly offered Haas up to $3.4 million for the next three seasons, making him the highest-paid prop in the game. According to the rugby league rumour mill, the Storm and possibly Bulldogs are willing to go even higher. Which, as I said, is all talk at this stage. There is a limit to how much NRL clubs can pay their players. It’s called the salary cap, but just supposing that other clubs are willing to throw an extra few hundred thousand dollars into the pot and the Broncos can’t match them, what sweeteners can they offer to make him stay put?
 
Well, if I was Kevvie I’d be pushing the ‘home sweet home’ angle. As he said over the weekend, he believes that a successful club is a happy club where players have fun, enjoy each other’s company and want to show up to work each day. It worked during his playing days and it seems to be working now. Will Haas want to walk away from that to an unknown environment – especially to a club, like say the Tigers, Dragons or Bulldogs which have had their off-field issues in recent years?
 
Haas showed he was a sensitive soul when he was so upset by Broncos’ supporters booing him after he said he wanted to leave last season. Maybe the club should encourage a ‘We Love You Payne’ campaign in the stands for the remainder of the year just to keep those warm fuzzy vibes radiating out onto the field. Then there is the fact that Haas has said his number one priority is to win a premiership. After a few lean years the Broncos are very much in the mix to do that this season. At the very least they can feature strongly in the finals and set themselves up for the ultimate success in another year or two. Haas has played a major role in getting the team into that position. Would he want to leave just as the pay-off is within sight?
 
And finally there’s the family factor. Haas has had a few problems off the field over the years, but he has also shown himself to be a devoted son and loving brother. His mother’s issues have been well documented, and if ever she needed him to be close at hand it is in the coming months and years. That can’t happen if he goes to Melbourne which, at this stage, looks to be the only club that can offer him the right money and premiership potential.
 
But just to seal the deal, if I was Kevvie Walters I’d be making a trip down the M1 to the Gold Coast with a big fat contract made out to Haas in his back pocket. Not to Payne Haas. To Klese Haas, his younger brother. The Titans forward told reporters during the week that he would love to play alongside his brother one day, and no doubt Payne feels the same. Klese might not be the player his big brother is, but with a bit of fancy footwork on the part of Kevin Walters he could prove to be the Broncos trump card in a high-stakes game of winner-takes-all.
 

- Mike Colman