Haas and Reynolds have both been under injury clouds in pre-season.
The Broncos have confirmed Payne Haas will likely miss the club’s pre-season matches but is expected to start the NRL season after undergoing recent ankle surgery. It comes as Brisbane captain Adam Reynolds remains ‘on track’ to recover in time for round one of the new season for Michael Maguire’s side after undergoing pre-season neck surgery and returning to non-contact sessions with the squad.
It emerged last week that Haas was racing the clock to be fit for round one after copping an ankle injury during pre-season that the club’s medical team decided needed surgery. The club hopes the representative prop will be able to return to full training in a month, but there’s a chance he won’t be ready for the round one clash against the Roosters in less than six weeks’ time.
But while Maguire is unlikely to have Haas available for Brisbane’s pre-season matches, Broncos head of performance Dave Ballard says the 25-year-old should be ready to go for the club’s NRL season opener away to the Chooks on March 6. “The surgery was a minor clean-out of the ankle,” Ballard said. “In consultation with the medical staff, we felt it was best for Payne to get it done now before the start of the season. We expect him to spend several weeks with our rehab staff, before he’s integrated back into the full squad ahead of Round 1.”
Haas’ absence from Brisbane’s pre-season hit-outs will give bench specialist Kobe Hetherington a chance to impress Maguire and potentially stake a claim for a spot in the starting side. It’s understood the new coach has been weighing up whether to shift Maroons and Kangaroos back-rower Patrick Carrigan into a front-row role this season, meaning Hetherington could get a crack at lock.
It’s just one of several big positional calls Maguire has to make this season, with arguably his biggest decision around who will fill the hooker and No.14 roles. Maguire has four main contenders for the starting hooker spot, with incumbent Billy Walters under pressure from Cory Paix, Blake Mozer and Tyson Smoothy. When Ezra Mam returns from his nine-game NRL suspension, Ben Hunt is likely to move from the halves into the No.9 role.
But until that time, Maguire has a big decision to make and has been keeping his cards close to his chest by rotating his dummy-halves regularly during pre-season training. Walters is the incumbent but 20-year-old Mozer comes with massive raps and is putting pressure on his teammate with a crafty skill-set. Paix has undoubtedly moved up the pecking order after being consigned to the Queensland Cup for all of last season, while Smoothy already has a bit of experience in the No.14 role for Brisbane.
Adam Reynolds on track to recover in time for NRL opener
The club has also been boosted by the positive injury news around Reynolds, who Maguire confirmed last week would captain the side again in 2024. Reynolds had successful neck surgery in December and has been limited in what he can do in pre-season but Ballard says the veteran No.7’s recovery is going as planned and they’re confident he’ll be ready for the start of the season.
“Reyno’s rehab is progressing well. He’s already begun non-contact sessions with the squad and is still on track to be ready for Round 1,” the Broncos’ head of performance said. The availability of Reynolds will be crucial to Brisbane’s hopes of getting off to a strong start in 2025, after Maguire resisted the urge to replace him as captain.
Maguire has been busy fixing the culture and attitude at the NRL club, and it looked like he might elevate Carrigan to the captaincy to rubber-stamp his new era. But the Broncos announced on Thursday afternoon that Reynolds will continue to skipper the side in 2025 – in what shapes as his last season before retirement.
The club also announced that Carrigan, Hunt, Haas and Kotoni Staggs will make up a newly-formed leadership group. There will undoubtedly be games throughout the season that Reynolds misses through injury, while Carrigan, Hunt and Haas will all be away on State of Origin duty at times.
“I feel like it’s gone full circle with Madge,” Reynolds said about his coach last week, having previously won a premiership under him at South Sydney. “He obviously gave me my debut jersey and now, I’m a little older but he’s still showing faith in me. We’ve got a really strong group of senior players here, and having Hunty as part of that now is huge.”
