Payne Haas may have played his way into a Blues jersey after a monstrous performance on Friday night that helped the Broncos to a 15-10 victory over a red-hot Roosters side on an eight-game winning streak.
In the lead-up to the heavyweight showdown at Suncorp Stadium, Blues coach Brad Fittler revealed he was keeping a close eye on the 20-year-old giant and Haas responded with a stormer.
In just his ninth career game, Haas made 221 metres including 83 post-contact metres, had eight tackle breaks and two line breaks in 63 minutes of game time. Throw in 25 tackles for good measure and Fittler couldn’t have missed him.
Haas made a name for himself last year after coming off the bench on three occasions for the Broncos but a shoulder injury which required a reconstruction brought his debut season to a premature end.
After being stood down by the club for the opening four rounds of this season for failing to co-operate with the NRL Integrity Unit, Haas returned to the field in round five and has worked his way into the starting line-up.
With the Broncos out to make a statement against the premiers on Friday, Haas made it his mission to get over the top of Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and the result was a standout game which could well have catapulted him into Fittler's side for Origin I.