BRISBANE powerhouse Payne Haas says he wouldn’t be “trying my arse off” in matches if he did not support coach Michael Maguire.
The Australian and Samoan international was asked once more about his decision to leave the Broncos at the end of this season after the premiers slumped from 20-6 up against Parramatta to lose 40-32 at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
“I wouldn’t be playing here right now, trying my arse off, if I had a problem with the team or the coach,” Haas, 26, told ABC Radio.
“I’m here to do a job with my brothers here. I love this club. I love everyone here and I’m just here to put my best foot forward every week.
“I don’t know mate. I’m not really paying attention to it. I know there’s lots of conspiracies out there.
“But I’ve said my part. I’m content with my decision..”
Asked to explain a third consecutive loss including the World Club Challenge, Haas – joining South Sydney next year – said: “I don’t know.
“We started well, just started to play our footy again … a bit frustrated, lost for words at the moment….
“But you don’t win premierships in March. We’re going to go back to the drawing board, keep working hard, the results will turn our way.
“We let each other down tonight, especially in the second half and at the back end of that first half. It’s something we’ve got to fix and we’ve got to fix it pretty quick.
“It’s the same stuff we’ve been saying since the World Club Challenge and we failed to do it again.”
Parramatta’s Jack De Belin, in reference to the round one 52-4 loss at the hands of Melbourne, said meanwhile: “To be honest, the way we started the game, it looked like deja vu of last week.
“The six-agains is what makes you so tired. You get through a full set, then you get a late six-to-go and to be pretty honest it cooks you a little bit.
“It was a pretty high-scoring game and I think both teams will want to get their defence a bit better to be honest.”
On his Brisbane room-mate Jonah Pezet, De Belin said: “He was awesome. I wish we had him a bit longer than a year.”