Prop Payne Haas put in another powerhouse performance as the Broncos overcame another slow start to spoil the party for the Gold Coast Titans last night, who were playing in front of one of their biggest home crowds in years.
Haas – who ran for 187 metres with 50 post-contact, five tackle breaks and two offloads – was able to make a huge impact during his 68 minutes on the field at Cbus Super Stadium as the Broncos posted a 43-24 win, with reduced time on the field doing nothing to reduce his overall output.
“Payne could have played 80 today, he just kept going, so we had to sort of drag him off when the game was sort of where it was, and Patty (Carrigan) played some good minutes as well,” Broncos coach Kevin Walters said of his use of Haas and his bench rotation.
With Brisbane running away with the game midway through the second half, Walters decided to play Haas through for one long stint and not return him to the field at the back-end of the game as has been the case for the past six matches.
For Haas, who enjoyed coming up against the Gold Coast forward pack that featured strong performances – especially in the first half, from Moeaki Fotuaika, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and David Fifita who had an impressive overall game – playing a full game was not high on his wish list, despite him being keen to play on last night.
“Yeah, I'm happy (with my minutes),” Haas said. “This is probably the least amount of minutes I have played since I started playing NRL, so it's been good for me, I feel pretty fresh.
“I don't want to play 80 minutes … I'm still young, so the minutes I'm playing now is perfect.
“(When) I was out there (tonight), wanting to compete … I wanted to stay out there, (but) I knew we had a few tries on them, so knew it was probably best to come off and get ready for next week.”
Next week, the team travel to Darwin to face the Eels, with Haas looking forward to again feature a strong pack, with Samoa captain Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard in his sights.
“They’ve got the two best props in the comp, I just can’t wait for that game next week,” Haas said.
“We know it’s going to it’s going to be a battle, it’s going to be a bit of a war, can’t wait for that game, looking forward to it.”
This article contains content that is only available on NRL.com