‘Trying to smother it’: Broncos great’s honest Haas reveal… and ‘one thing I can’t swallow’

Broncos legend Gorden Tallis said there is “absolutely” drama behind the scenes at Red Hill as the spotlight continues to be placed on the defending premiers.

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As if Payne Haas’ shock decision to join South Sydney was not already enough, the Broncos have struggled to perform on the field too, backing up their World Club Challenge loss with a 26-0 shutout defeat at the hands of Penrith.

The poor performances have only intensified speculation that there may be more drama at the Broncos than the club is letting on, and when quizzed on if that is the case on Tuesday night, Tallis didn’t shy away.

“Yeah, absolutely,” he said on NRL 360.

“Because of the way they’re trying to smother it.”

Both Haas and coach Michael Maguire have been insistent that there is no bad blood between the two despite rumours suggesting otherwise; talk which Haas previously called “BS”.

Wherever the truth may lie, Tallis said the “one thing I can’t swallow” is the reports Haas didn’t sign for substantially more coin at South Sydney.

“Because they’ve got two million-dollar halves, so I think it might be mismanagement,” he added.

“Maybe he did slide under the rug. Maybe he did slide out the back door.”

There were whispers Haas had been worn down by Maguire’s relentless training sessions and while Haas refuted those rumours, Tallis said he had heard talk around Brisbane about a particular session in Toowoomba.

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“All I did hear was they were disappointed that there was a hard session put on when they didn’t think that they had to go do it,” Tallis said.

“They went up to Toowoomba or something, and it was another two weeks that they had to go to England, and it was time away from their family. That’s loud around the place and that’s about it.”

For the record, Haas said family was the “main factor” behind his decision while his connection with Wayne Bennett and soon-to-be teammates Latrell Mitchell and David Fifita are said to have also played a big role in luring the Broncos prop away from Red Hill.

But The Daily Telegraph’s Paul Crawley was insistent there is a bigger story at Brisbane than what the club is indicating, adding that because the South Sydney deal was “done undercover” the Broncos didn’t have enough time to properly react to it and get ahead of the headlines.

“He didn’t leave for more money elsewhere. He chose to leave at the last minute, days after Michael Maguire had come out and said he thinks he’s going to stay,” Crawley said.

“Payne Haas pulled all their pants down… there is something going on there and they can deny it until they’re blue in the face.

“… There’s something going on at that club behind the scenes that has forced him out the door.”