BY DAN

Payne Haas is moving. It’s a massive deal for rugby league, and will prematurely end the Broncos dynasty, and potentially fuel one at the Bunnies. As the ramifications reverberate throughout the competition, there could be some real implications for the Milk.

Firstly, let’s note the obvious. Souths will be pretty good. As Mike of the Green Machine Podcast and I spoke about in our recent epic on the upcoming season, they’re getting old and they’re struggling with health. Cody Walker is 103 (man he keeps ageing), Latrell Mitchell’s hamstring grips tighter than me on a kebab when I’ve had too many celebration whiskeys, and Wayne Bennett may or may not have lost his fastball.

But they’ve added the world’s best prop*, who can play 70 minutes a game with impact, hiding some of the most drastic weaknesses of this side. Add to that a returning Cam Murray, a possibly rejuvenated David Fifita, and if they can find someone to play halfback (hey if they’re signing Haas, why not just go get Cleary?) then they could get reclassified faster than Venezuelan oil reserves under Hugo Chavez (see, that’s a joke about how oil reserves are formally measured rather than any recent ‘incidents’ and you don’t actually care but trust me it’s hilarious. It has layers).

For the Broncos it’s got to be upsetting, and the pretense from some quarters that it’s anything but that is bizarre. Haas is still in his 20s and was not just instrumental but goddamn necessary in their premiership run last year. His effort in the qualifier against the Milk should be considered one for the ages, and would be talked about more if not for the shinier interventions of Reece Walsh. Without Haas Pat Carrigan suddenly becomes a focal point, Xavier Willison suddenly has to grow up in a year, and everyone else in that pack has to lift.

The Broncos can always go out and buy, and that’s where it gets problematic for everyone else. This decision was not about resources. Haas seems to have taken the same money to go elsewhere, and there wasn’t even a bidding war. By hook or by crook he would have got more at the Broncos, and with Adam Reynolds (and maybe Ben Hunt) also coming off the cap, they’ll be coming hot and hard for literally anyone in the comp they take a shine to. Given they’ve already got a halfback, they’ll likely come looking for any prop, (or rake for that matter) they think might suit their needs.

Have I told you how much I love Owen Pattie and Ata Mariota? Not lately? Well I do, and while Pattie is locked in through 2028, Mariota’s reported extension has been ‘done’ since November but remains conspicuously unofficial. Mariota is managed by Sam Ayoub, an agent that has been seemingly dragging out negotiations with his clients over multiple months. He would love this leverage.

God knows where his deal is up to now, but I wouldn’t mind if the club sweet official confirmation that Ata will in fact be definitely staying with the club through 2027 and 2028. And for that matter to just check in and make sure there’s a clear line of communication for anyone else wanting to make a trip to Queensland for any reason.

This, of course, is the insecurity speaking. The big bad Broncos have a bag of cash and I’m already nervous. It doesn’t make any rational sense. The Broncos have the financial capacity to get any player they want, and that was the case before and after Haas left. Sometimes people are after something more than cash, more than winning – which is what has driven Haas, and maybe Wighton before him, to Sydney.

Let me clear for sake of people taking this the wrong way. As far as we know Ata has signed a deal with Canberra, it’s just not official. There’s nothing to suggest he’s leaving, other than he’s practically the only person in Canberra without an NRL deal with the club for 2027. Besides, Ata is not necessarily the kind of player I would expect the Broncos to come for when they could shop at a more proven end of the market.

But boy howdy did my leg get jittery just thinking about it. Nothing’s ever loud enough to drown the demons out. That’s four decades of Raider fandom leaking out.

That is the fallout of Haas leaving. The Broncos may emerge flush with cash and in search of a face-saving signing. Until they make it we’ll be jumpy that a sacrifice is still needed for the beast. Like the darkness emanating out of Mordor, we’re all in sight of the eye until the empire is sated.

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