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Broncos re-sign Haas on lucrative six-year deal
July 18, 2018
Brisbane have extended and upgraded the contract of 18-year-old prop Payne Haas on a six-year deal which will keep him at the club until the end of 2024.
In a massive coup for the Broncos, the $3 million deal, which has been registered with the NRL, will ensure Haas stays at the club through the formative years of his NRL career.
Haas made a stunning Telstra Premiership debut in the round-eight win over the Rabbitohs where his cameo performance off the bench against the Burgess brothers earmarked him as a star of the future.
He was injured a fortnight later and is now in rehab after undergoing a shoulder reconstruction.
Broncos coach Wayne Bennett said Haas was one of the key cornerstones for building a pack to be reckoned with for years to come.
"We know the potential that is there so it is not a risk factor for us," Bennett told NRL.com
"It gives Payne security and us security for six years to know that every year he won’t have some other club trying to knock him off the perch.
"It is important that we keep these boys because they are our future. Without young players coming through it minimises your future, particularly if you want to be a top team.
"I have always prided myself in my time at the Broncos with keeping the kids here. In our last premiership team there was 16 or 17 players who all came here as young men and never played for any other club, and we are nearly back towards that again now with predominantly homegrown young boys growing into men in the team."
Haas had offers from at least six NRL clubs and has been earmarked as a future State of Origin player for NSW, and his re-signing is a huge vote of confidence in where the Broncos are heading under Bennett.
Eighteen-year-old forward David Fifita and prop Thomas Flegler are already on the books until the end of 2020 with Tongan international Joe Ofahengaue and prop Pat Carrigan until the end of 2019.
The club has already begun negotiations to extend their deals.
NRL stars Matt Lodge, Tevita Pangai jnr and Jaydn Su’A have also stated their intentions to remain at the Broncos.
"Anyone that doesn’t realise what a group of young players we’ve got here is probably living in another world to us," Bennett said.
Source: NRL.com
