How Payne Haas helped end Laurie Daley's first spell in charge of NSW
'I remember showing 'Loz' [Daley] and laughing and saying, 'That's when you know you've made it in Origin'.
'Then I heard they brought in Payne. He was only a schoolboy at the time, but he was big and versatile, we played kind of the same, and he was meant to mimic me.
'I think Cronulla played the Broncos last year and I wanted to know what had happened. He told me he was young, he helped Queensland out, but there's no way he'd do it now.
'That series ended up being the last one for Loz. It definitely cost me my chance to win an Origin series.
'Payne's not on the big money for nothing. He's so versatile, and knows what to do. He offloads, he attacks out wide – he does things front-rowers shouldn't do.'
Haas, who was named man of the match following the 18-6 win over Queensland in game one last month, said he was never entirely sure what he was getting himself into when the young Broncos were called in to run an opposed session with the Maroons, a side which featured the likes of Billy Slater – now the Maroons' coach – Cameron Smith, and front-rowers Josh McGuire, Wallace and Josh Papali'i.
Now 24, Haas also revealed how supercoach Wayne Bennett asked him to pledge his allegiance to the Maroons while still only a teenager in the Broncos system. Haas moved from Newcastle to the Gold Coast when he was 13, and he spent a short time in the Maroons pathways, only for Haas to come to his senses.
The only thing that would have made the images of a beardless Haas training with the Maroons would have been him wearing the Queensland training gear, which, thankfully, he was not.
'I didn't know what I was getting into that day, they asked us Broncos boys to come in for an opposed session, and they wanted me to be a Fifita clone,' Haas said.
'It was weird because I was from NSW. Now, when I think back on it, if they asked me to do the same, I'd be like, 'f--- that'.
'I knew a few of the Queensland boys, including Josh McGuire, so it wasn't too bad. It was a cool experience at the time. I was given a taste of Origin, and got to find out how the players prepare. You also find out how much the Queenslanders hate us. Living in Queensland, I already knew that.
'I wanted to go hard against them and see how I went. It was good practice for me and I enjoyed it.
'We were at Sanctuary Cove. I was a baby then. I watched that first Origin game and Fifita killed it.
'I remember the Maroons wanting me to play for them. I remember Wayne Bennett wanting me to play for Queensland, and how he was off me when I told him I wanted to play for NSW. I knew I was always a Blue.'
When you point out his Fifita impersonation helped Queensland put an end to Fifita's dominance on that series, and essentially left Daley without a job, Haas shakes his head and says: 'Loz had a great career in Origin. He's back here now. I'm indebted to him.'
Haas was a standout when playing for NSW in the under-16s and under-18s. Mark O'Meley, a NSW hardman in his own right, coached Haas, and recalled how the Broncos front-rower, along with his Blues teammate Spencer Leniu, were the only pair to ever run over the top of him while holding tackling pads.
One of the teams Haas loved watching growing up in the early 2000s was O'Meley's Bulldogs, which also featured Sonny Bill Williams, Willie Mason and Roy Asotasi.
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O'Meley said of Haas: 'He's hands down the best prop in the comp. Someone said the other day he hasn't proven himself in Origin, or won a grand final, but he's won [five] Paul Morgan Medals with Brisbane, and a few Dally M props of the year. To me, when you watch him, he's the benchmark.'
The frightening thing about Haas is he went into game one on limited preparation because of a quad injury – and now runs on to Optus Stadium injury-free and with a full week's worth of training. He is one of the rare big men with enough leg speed to get wide and run at the halves, just as he did with Daly Cherry-Evans and Cam Munster nearly three weeks ago.
As for being the best prop in the game – potentially ever – Haas said: 'I've never looked at it like that. That chat is for other people. I don't play for the accolades, I play to win premierships, to win games, to have fun with my teammates, enjoy being in the present, and be where my feet are. I'm loving my time in Brisbane, and I'm loving my time in Origin camp.
''Madge' [Broncos coach Michael Maguire] has got me believing in myself and my leadership qualities. He's pushed me to be a leader, and I'm trying to be that leader around the boys at my club.
'He didn't want me to hurt myself before game one. I wanted to play, I expressed that to Madge, and he said, 'If you want to play, go and play'. He had a lot of faith in me.'
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