Breaking News: Payne Haas Has been Suspended by Brisbane Broncos for 1 Years 2 Months Due to……
Breaking News: Payne Haas Has been Suspended by Brisbane Broncos for 1 Years 2 Months Due to……
Some are calling the 25-year-old the greatest front rower to ever play the game, so his decision in August to switch allegiances from Australia to Samoa to represent his mother’s family is set to heighten the renewed interest in the sport’s international competition.
Off the field, Haas’s remarkable story of overcoming adversity includes him taking on the responsibility to care for his two younger brothers. Haas’s mother is in jail over a car accident that killed three people, and his father was arrested in the Philippines on drug charges last year. Haas’s older brother was a quadriplegic who died in 2020.
The forward’s early career was marked by a series of indiscretions, including pleading guilty to intimidating police in 2021. This week Haas has said he wants his family to live a life away from criminal influence. Yet he is one of several NRL players to spruik the clothing of a brand linked to Sydney’s Alameddine crime family.
Haas has promoted the R4W – or “ready for war” – activewear brand this month, which borrows the name of the Alameddine network’s “Ready 4 War” group, and which used the provocative marketing tagline “11th September, ground zero”. The Bronco wore a T-shirt from R4W’s sibling brand Proper in a photoshoot for the Sydney Morning Herald this week, which catalogued Haas’s difficult upbringing. “I don’t want my kids to grow up in the environment I grew up around,” he said.
As grand final anticipation builds this week, Haas’s endorsement is likely to gain greater attention. The NRL has been informed of the matter and a spokesperson said the governing body “is collecting all relevant information”. The Guardian has sought comment from Brisbane and Haas’s agent.
But the NRL media’s focus on Haas has also been on his impact on the season decider.
