Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters has confirmed that the club is keen on signing NSW star Payne Haas to a huge long-term deal.
Following his monster effort in Origin III for the Blues, the promising forward was again head and shoulders Brisbane's best player in the loss to the Tigers on the weekend. The Broncos gave up an 18-10 halftime lead to go down 42-24 but Haas was as powerful as ever, running for 148 metres and making 41 tackles in 65 minutes while setting up a Thomas Flegler try.
Haas' management and Brisbane officials are in discussions about a massive deal reportedly to the tune of a 'lifetime' $10 million, 10-year deal.
Speaking on 100% Footy, Walters declared the club is working behind the scenes with Haas' people and the Broncos haven't been shy in expressing their interest in locking him up.
"Yeah there has been some discussion around all of that with Payne and the longevity of his career here at the Broncos," Walters said.
"Obviously, that's something that the board, our CEO and Ben Ikin will sort out, the longevity of how long Payne stays here. He's been our best player this year and there's so much up-side to Payne's game here at the Broncos.
"He's one of those guys that you can really build a team, a future and a club around given his performances. I liken him to Glenn Lazarus, and I played a lot of footy with Glenn Lazarus, he was one of our best players every week and if not then our top two or three players every week.
"And Payne has those same qualities at 21-years of age. He's certainly a valuable jewel to us. I'll leave it to those decision makers to decide on Payne's long-term future here.
"But from a coaching point of view, he's a dream to coach and a great guy to have on your side."
The deal is set to make Haas the Broncos first $1 million-a-season forward in the club's history.
There was some doubt whether Haas would stay, especially since fellow forwards Matt Lodge and David Fifita left the club. However, it's said the star is keen to stay in Brisbane.
Long-term deals in the NRL and in sports in general are fraught with danger, although the Broncos forward stocks have taken a hit and Haas is the only glimmer of hope that provides fans with optimism about the future.
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from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/nrl-news-brisbane-broncos-kevin-walters-payne-haas-long-term-deal/b5e066bd-10fa-4046-b856-0d12a250ea21
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