A broken promise from Sam Burgess ultimately cost South Sydney the signature of Broncos enforcer Payne Haas as Wayne Bennett, who has a connection to both clubs, pounced on the missed opportunity.
Haas flew down to Redfern to meet with Burgess and then coach Michael Maguire while as many as 12 clubs pursued the highly sought-after teenager, and his name was almost on the dotted line.
NRL.com reports Burgess has pledged to support Haas at Penrith later that week to watch him play for Keebra Sports High in the GIO Cup final.
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However, the Englishman left the rising star shattered when he didn't show - a rejection Haas will never forget, and neither will South Sydney.
"Before the game I was looking around for him," Haas told NRL.com.
"But he didn’t come. I was a kid. It hurt me a bit. I used to love Souths. My dad’s a mad Souths fan. And Sam Burgess was someone I grew up idolising. It’s funny how things impact you when you’re young.
"I was pretty close to signing there. The only reason I didn’t go any further with it was because Sammy told me he was going to come to my game. But he brushed me so I was like ‘oh don’t worry then, I’m not coming to South Sydney’."
Burgess later apologised to Haas when their two teams met in round eight and the brilliant moment has been caught on footage.
This is sensational footage!
— Michael Chammas (@MichaelChammas) May 30, 2019
The moment Sam Burgess apologised to Payne Haas for a broken promise that cost South Sydney his signature three years ago.
COLUMN: https://t.co/DtlJdfEdPN pic.twitter.com/SwCL25DRfy
Haas' shortlist of clubs included the Rabbitohs, Storm, Titans and Eels.
After ruling out a move to Redfern, Haas had decided on Melbourne until a Bennett sales pitch changed the course of his future.
"I was about to sign with Storm that day," Haas said.
"I had my contract there and had already packed my bags to go to Storm pre-season. Then Wayne called. We had a heart to heart and persuaded me to rip my Melbourne Storm contract up and sign with Brisbane.''
Haas is only 10 games into his NRL career but he has made every one of those count, named as one of five debutants in Brad Fittler's NSW.
In seven appearances in 2019, Haas has run for 1219 metres at a brilliant average of 174m per game.
