How Payne Haas helped end Laurie Daley's first spell in charge of NSW
'I wrote back, 'Be careful of what?' He then showed me a photo of the Queensland whiteboard, which simply said, 'Andrew Fifita'.
'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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The Advertiser
31 minutes ago
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The Maroons pack of Josh Papalii, Jarrod Wallace, Tim Glasby, Dylan Napa and Josh McGuire plotted how they would take down the Blues' big man. "The were keen to get into me," Haas recalled. "It was a bit crazy. "I know what Queensland is about and how much they hate us and resent us." Haas has no doubt it will be the same again from Queensland this week, with Slater a senior player in 2017 and coach now. "We spoke about it straight after the first game that the job's not done," Haas said. "We know Queensland's going to bounce back pretty hard. They always do when their backs are against the wall." The 2017 series loss was not Daley's first such defeat as coach, after the Blues also led the 2013 campaign 1-0 and dropped the decider in Sydney. The drought-breaking victory did come in 2014 after a game-one win at Suncorp, but Daley does not subscribe to deep lessons from those results. "I always say Origins are such small margins," Daley said. "The result can change on one decision, one bounce of the ball. There's not much between the two teams. "If you're off a touch or you make errors, you get punished for them. Even last time I was in charge, we lost four games by a combined total of seven points. "Anything can happen." If Laurie Daley needs any reminder that State of Origin has not been won yet by NSW, he need look no further than Payne Haas. Dominant on one leg in last month's series opener in Brisbane, a now fully-fit Haas has the chance to lead NSW's pack to a second straight series win in Perth on Wednesday night. For Queensland to come back and win this series would take one of the all-time great Origin revivals. Billy Slater is facing heat for the first time as an Origin coach, Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans has been axed and Queensland must win in both Perth and Sydney. But Daley has been in an eerily similar position before. In his last stint as Blues coach, NSW produced one of their finest wins in years when they beat Queensland 28-4 in the Suncorp Stadium series opener. Andrew Fifita had one of the all-time great games by a NSW prop, running 183 metres and busting 11 tackles. Fifita was kept far quieter three weeks later in Sydney, and Johnathan Thurston led a second-half comeback while playing with one fit arm. Three weeks later the Maroons won their 10th series in 11 years, and Daley was done as coach. "Every Origin game is different," Daley said. "You know it's going to be tough and you've just got to have that tough mentality to go to the game and not expect anything to happen for you. "You've got to make it happen. Our forwards just need to be onside and go as hard as they did in game one." Haas also knows as well as anyone how hard Queensland will come at him in Perth. After Fifita ran roughshod over the Maroons eight years ago, it was Haas the Maroons looked to in their search for answers. Playing under-20s for Brisbane at the time, the then-17-year-old Haas was called in for an opposed session and told to mimic Fifita. He was target No.1. The Maroons pack of Josh Papalii, Jarrod Wallace, Tim Glasby, Dylan Napa and Josh McGuire plotted how they would take down the Blues' big man. "The were keen to get into me," Haas recalled. "It was a bit crazy. "I know what Queensland is about and how much they hate us and resent us." Haas has no doubt it will be the same again from Queensland this week, with Slater a senior player in 2017 and coach now. "We spoke about it straight after the first game that the job's not done," Haas said. "We know Queensland's going to bounce back pretty hard. They always do when their backs are against the wall." The 2017 series loss was not Daley's first such defeat as coach, after the Blues also led the 2013 campaign 1-0 and dropped the decider in Sydney. The drought-breaking victory did come in 2014 after a game-one win at Suncorp, but Daley does not subscribe to deep lessons from those results. "I always say Origins are such small margins," Daley said. "The result can change on one decision, one bounce of the ball. There's not much between the two teams. "If you're off a touch or you make errors, you get punished for them. Even last time I was in charge, we lost four games by a combined total of seven points. "Anything can happen." If Laurie Daley needs any reminder that State of Origin has not been won yet by NSW, he need look no further than Payne Haas. Dominant on one leg in last month's series opener in Brisbane, a now fully-fit Haas has the chance to lead NSW's pack to a second straight series win in Perth on Wednesday night. For Queensland to come back and win this series would take one of the all-time great Origin revivals. Billy Slater is facing heat for the first time as an Origin coach, Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans has been axed and Queensland must win in both Perth and Sydney. But Daley has been in an eerily similar position before. In his last stint as Blues coach, NSW produced one of their finest wins in years when they beat Queensland 28-4 in the Suncorp Stadium series opener. Andrew Fifita had one of the all-time great games by a NSW prop, running 183 metres and busting 11 tackles. Fifita was kept far quieter three weeks later in Sydney, and Johnathan Thurston led a second-half comeback while playing with one fit arm. Three weeks later the Maroons won their 10th series in 11 years, and Daley was done as coach. "Every Origin game is different," Daley said. "You know it's going to be tough and you've just got to have that tough mentality to go to the game and not expect anything to happen for you. "You've got to make it happen. Our forwards just need to be onside and go as hard as they did in game one." Haas also knows as well as anyone how hard Queensland will come at him in Perth. After Fifita ran roughshod over the Maroons eight years ago, it was Haas the Maroons looked to in their search for answers. Playing under-20s for Brisbane at the time, the then-17-year-old Haas was called in for an opposed session and told to mimic Fifita. He was target No.1. The Maroons pack of Josh Papalii, Jarrod Wallace, Tim Glasby, Dylan Napa and Josh McGuire plotted how they would take down the Blues' big man. "The were keen to get into me," Haas recalled. "It was a bit crazy. "I know what Queensland is about and how much they hate us and resent us." Haas has no doubt it will be the same again from Queensland this week, with Slater a senior player in 2017 and coach now. "We spoke about it straight after the first game that the job's not done," Haas said. "We know Queensland's going to bounce back pretty hard. They always do when their backs are against the wall." The 2017 series loss was not Daley's first such defeat as coach, after the Blues also led the 2013 campaign 1-0 and dropped the decider in Sydney. The drought-breaking victory did come in 2014 after a game-one win at Suncorp, but Daley does not subscribe to deep lessons from those results. "I always say Origins are such small margins," Daley said. "The result can change on one decision, one bounce of the ball. There's not much between the two teams. "If you're off a touch or you make errors, you get punished for them. Even last time I was in charge, we lost four games by a combined total of seven points. "Anything can happen."
