Heavily strapped Haas makes fleeting appearance at Blues training
Payne Haas still appeared hampered by a quad injury as one of Laurie Daley's former Queensland Origin opponents made a surprise appearance at training at Ballymore on Monday.
Haas had his left quad heavily strapped and only completed a handful of tackles during the opposed session against Queensland Cup side Wynnum Manly before reverting to sprint drills on the sideline.
Blues officials remain hopeful the game's best front-rower will be fit to start at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night, with Stefano Utoikamanu on stand-by.
As Haas races the clock, Les Kiss, the former Queensland winger and incoming Wallabies coach was spotted on the sidelines.
Kiss, a former North Sydney Bears player who featured in four Origin games for the Maroons, was at the venue in his role as Queensland Reds coach.
The 60-year-old will attend his first Origin game in more than 20 years, and admitted there were a few players in the NSW and Queensland teams that would look good as Wallabies.
'I've cast my eye over both teams,' Kiss said. 'I'd love to have a couple of them, but at the moment we're really happy with what we've got. Joseph [Suaalii] joined us recently, you guys got Marky [Nawaqanitawase] to the Sydney Roosters.
'Both teams here have a few guys who could easily represent the Wallabies. But we're happy with our lot at the moment.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Angus Crichton calls out Maroons' team-list mind games
Angus Crichton has accused Queensland of subterfuge by naming a hard-to-believe team list for State of Origin II, vowing to terrorise new half Tom Dearden regardless of which forward is beside him. In a wide-ranging interview from NSW camp, Crichton also took a subtle jab at the Maroons for refusing to kick off to Spencer Leniu or Payne Haas in the Origin series opener. But it is the Maroons' published line-up for Origin II in Perth next Wednesday that Crichton finds hardest to believe after the Blues' series-opening 18-6 win in Brisbane. Aside from axing captain and halfback Daly Cherry-Evans, Queensland coach Billy Slater has also dropped Jeremiah Nanai and Pat Carrigan back to the bench. The changes leave Kurt Capewell listed to start at second row and Trent Loiero at lock, but Crichton is having none of the Maroons' claims. "Surely Nanai's not on the bench and surely Patty's not on the bench as well," Crichton said. "I think they're trying to play mind games with us by naming those guys there. I can't see Patty or Jeremiah not starting. He (Nanai) was one of their best last game. "They played all right in that last game. Jeremiah was a point of difference for them on the kick chase, and some of his defence was good. "Then Patty, he's won the Wally Lewis Medal before, so it goes without saying ... they might be trying to play mind games, but we're more focused on ourselves." Regardless of what the Maroons do, Crichton is looking forward to getting at Dearden. The NSW second-rower earned man-of-the-series honours last year after the way he physically went after Cherry-Evans, and he plans to target Dearden in the same way. "It's my job as a back-rower to try and terrorise the opposition halfback," Crichton said. "The more I can get into a physical battle with them, the less we see them. "Some of my best games have been when I've done that, so I'm looking to recreate that with Tommy. I really like him, but it's different when you're playing. "He is a strong little bastard, so he will be running hard. It's a big call for Queensland, he is stepping into the No.7 jersey for the first time. "I know he will be able to bring his best. I just have to make sure I am bringing better." The other major talking point from Origin I was the Maroons' decision to not send a kick-off in the direction of Leniu, who has become arch-enemy No.1 in Queensland. Queensland kicked off to the left and away from Payne Haas for the game's first two restarts, setting up Mitch Barnett and Max King for the return runs. They then sent the next two kick-offs to the right and away from an infuriated Leniu after he had entered the field, again setting up King for the returns. Slater claimed this week it was a decision made "on the run" due to the Maroons being stripped for numbers, but Crichton suggested he knew it was a premeditated call. "I know it was a deliberate decision," Crichton said. "I've heard that from people that were in there. They were told don't kick it to Payne (Haas) or Spencer. "Every rugby league fan wants to see (Leniu take the return), so hopefully they'll do it this time."
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Angus Crichton calls out Maroons' team-list mind games
Angus Crichton has accused Queensland of subterfuge by naming a hard-to-believe team list for State of Origin II, vowing to terrorise new half Tom Dearden regardless of which forward is beside him. In a wide-ranging interview from NSW camp, Crichton also took a subtle jab at the Maroons for refusing to kick off to Spencer Leniu or Payne Haas in the Origin series opener. But it is the Maroons' published line-up for Origin II in Perth next Wednesday that Crichton finds hardest to believe after the Blues' series-opening 18-6 win in Brisbane. Aside from axing captain and halfback Daly Cherry-Evans, Queensland coach Billy Slater has also dropped Jeremiah Nanai and Pat Carrigan back to the bench. The changes leave Kurt Capewell listed to start at second row and Trent Loiero at lock, but Crichton is having none of the Maroons' claims. "Surely Nanai's not on the bench and surely Patty's not on the bench as well," Crichton said. "I think they're trying to play mind games with us by naming those guys there. I can't see Patty or Jeremiah not starting. He (Nanai) was one of their best last game. "They played all right in that last game. Jeremiah was a point of difference for them on the kick chase, and some of his defence was good. "Then Patty, he's won the Wally Lewis Medal before, so it goes without saying ... they might be trying to play mind games, but we're more focused on ourselves." Regardless of what the Maroons do, Crichton is looking forward to getting at Dearden. The NSW second-rower earned man-of-the-series honours last year after the way he physically went after Cherry-Evans, and he plans to target Dearden in the same way. "It's my job as a back-rower to try and terrorise the opposition halfback," Crichton said. "The more I can get into a physical battle with them, the less we see them. "Some of my best games have been when I've done that, so I'm looking to recreate that with Tommy. I really like him, but it's different when you're playing. "He is a strong little bastard, so he will be running hard. It's a big call for Queensland, he is stepping into the No.7 jersey for the first time. "I know he will be able to bring his best. I just have to make sure I am bringing better." The other major talking point from Origin I was the Maroons' decision to not send a kick-off in the direction of Leniu, who has become arch-enemy No.1 in Queensland. Queensland kicked off to the left and away from Payne Haas for the game's first two restarts, setting up Mitch Barnett and Max King for the return runs. They then sent the next two kick-offs to the right and away from an infuriated Leniu after he had entered the field, again setting up King for the returns. Slater claimed this week it was a decision made "on the run" due to the Maroons being stripped for numbers, but Crichton suggested he knew it was a premeditated call. "I know it was a deliberate decision," Crichton said. "I've heard that from people that were in there. They were told don't kick it to Payne (Haas) or Spencer. "Every rugby league fan wants to see (Leniu take the return), so hopefully they'll do it this time."
Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Perth Now
'I'll be 100 per cent': Suaalii's huge Wallabies boost
In a mighty boost, Wallabies superstar Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has declared himself "fully fit" to face the touring British and Irish Lions next month. Suaalii on Wednesday claimed he was "97 per cent" right after losing, then regaining, 5kg following surgery three weeks ago to repair a fractured jaw. Having the code-hopping game-breaker back at his brilliant best will be critical to the Wallabies' chances of conquering the Lions in the showpiece three-Test series kicking off in Brisbane on July 19. And Suaalii believes his recovery is firmly on track, the outside back revealing he'd even returned to full-contact training on Monday in the hope of making a comeback in Australia's season-opening Test against Fiji in Newcastle on July 6. "It's really good. The face was really big for a while, so I was wearing a face mask everywhere, but it's slowly coming down," Suaalii said at a Lions promotion at Sydney's Taronga Zoo. "I've still got a bit of baby fat around, but it's really good. I'm like 97 per cent, but I'll be fully fit." The one-time NSW State of Origin star suffered the break in an accidental collision with NSW Waratahs and Wallabies teammate Andrew Kellaway, who felt horrible when his knee ploughed into Suaalii's jaw. "Yeah, nobody wants to crash the Ferrari. That's definitely not what anybody wants," Kellaway said on Wednesday. "I was worried I was going to go viral as the guy who damaged Joseph before the Lions series." Suaalii, though, insists all has been forgiven and that friendly fire is merely an occupational hazard. "It's all part of my growth as a human and then as a rugby player too, so it's all part of the game," he said. But he did concede to initially fearing he may miss the start of the series. "Because obviously it's such an important time for myself and straight rugby and I want to be playing so, yeah, obviously there's a little bit of nerves," Suaalii said. "But they (doctors) came back straight away and then I had surgery maybe three weeks ago now and, yeah, I lost around 5kg, but I've put it all back on now. "I've been eating heaps, thanks to my Mum and my family around me with the support to help me stay on track. "Just going back home and there's always food there, so Mum and Dad always try to feed me as much as possible when I'm back home, so that's good." Now that he's declared his availability, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt must decide where to play his attacking trump. He finished last year's spring tour at outside centre, but Waratahs coach Dan McKellar mostly used Suaalii at fullback during his stop-start Super Rugby Pacific season. Suaalii doesn't care where he plays, as long as he's in Australia's starting XV. "Playing at 15, playing at 13, even training on the wing, I feel like I've been learning so much," he said. "I'm a big believer in playing wing,13, 15, just make sure you're a better rugby player, and seeing it from a different perspective always helps you."
