Prop Payne Haas is relishing the chance to face off with one of the other form forwards of the competition in Addin Fonua-Blake when the Broncos meet the Warriors in their preliminary final on Saturday.
Haas helped set the tone for the Broncos in their dominant win against the Storm in the opening week of the finals and will need to be at his best again against the likes of AFB and Tohu Harris, who have been an integral part of the Warriors revival this season.
“We have to (start well) because they have got some good forwards in their team,” Haas said.
“Harris, (Mitch) Barnett and Addin, they start well, so we’ve got to start well as well and match it with them and drag them into deep water.
“(Fonua-Blake) has been one of the form props in the comp this year and I like these kinds of challenges.
“He's probably one of the best attacking forwards in the comp and he's got good footwork, he's fast and very strong as well.
“I like watching him play, he plays well … I'm excited for the challenge this week against Addin.”
Haas was complimentary of the turnaround in form for the Warriors this year and like Reece Walsh and Jesse Arthars, was another Broncos player who had spent time at the club during a development stage of his career.
While that time in New Zealand was a number of years ago in 2016 when Haas was in his teens, the New South Wales representative said his time with the club “was a good learning curve” for him early on in his progression to the top grade.
“It was my first taste of what NRL players do on a day-to-day and I was about 15 years old, going in there and did a few weeks of pre-season with them,” Haas said.
“It was pretty cool and just opened my eyes on how to be a professional and lots of credit to them, they opened my eyes and it was pretty cool to see.
“It was a bit of an opportunity at our school at that time and Andrew McFadden was a coach then and he was a pretty good dude and helped me out a lot being a young kid over there in Auckland.”
Since then, Haas has blossomed into one of the premier props in the NRL and despite initial reservations and fielding offers from elsewhere, he extended his time with the club earlier this year for a further two years until 2026.
“I knew we could go this far into the comp, especially this year as well and (with) how we're playing,” Haas said.
“It's pretty cool to see now it’s coming to life and I have to pinch myself sometimes.”
This Saturday, both the Broncos and the Warriors come into the match with strong performances under their belts to get them this far, but Haas said his side would need to be even better in order to take the next step to the grand final.
“It's a big game this week, one more game until the GF … and we can’t rest on that, our Melbourne performance,” Haas said.
“It's a new game this weekend and the Warriors are going to be up for this.
“They're always up for us in Brisbane and they always play well up here, so we have to play our best footy or we're not going to get the job done.”
Match: Broncos v Warriors
Finals Week 3 -
home Team
Broncos
2nd Position
away Team
Warriors
4th Position
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
