Payne Haas hands Broncos massive NRL finals boost on eve of decisive Dolphins clash

Brisbane enforcer Payne Haas will start for the Broncos this weekend in their must-win clash against the Dolphins after making a speedy recovery from a Lisfranc injury. Despite coach Kevin Walters stating last week that his marquee prop was unlikely to recover from his foot issue in time for this weekend's game, the forward successfully got through Wednesday's training session and the captains run on Friday and will now be promoted into the starting side.

Haas trained for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday, albeit with the red 'no-contact' bib on, after injuring his foot in Brisbane's heavy 46-18 defeat to the Titans in round 22. And while he was initially named on the extended bench this weekend as he wasn't expected to be right in time, Walters confirmed on Friday he will start against Wayne Bennett's Dolphins.

“Payne’s fine,” Walters told media on Friday. “He got through training really well this morning. He’s a real Pro to get himself back in that short period and to be fit and ready to go really does show the class and professionalism of Payne.”

Xavier Willison will move back to the interchange with Haas coming into the starting team. The make-up for the remainder of the interchange will be finalised tomorrow once a final decision is made on the fitness of centre Deine Mariner, who is in doubt after missing Friday's training with the flu.

Josiah Karapani trained in the backline in place of Mariner and will move from the interchange to the starting side if needed. “We’ll make a decision on Deine closer to game time – he’s got a pretty bad case of the flu and has had it all week – but we’ll give him every chance to play,” said Walters.

Haas' return is a massive boost in Brisbane's push for a finals berth. The Dolphins and Broncos, both on 26 points, are two points behind eighth-placed St George Illawarra and need two wins in the final rounds if they have any chance of playing finals.

However, the sides are on vastly different trajectories. The Dolphins have lost five of their past six games, while the Broncos have shown character to win their past two in comeback victories against North Queensland and Parramatta.

And Pat Carrigan said having their forward leader back on the park couldn't come at a better time. “He’s been training really well,” Carrigan said on Wednesday. “He’s the ultimate professional... It was obviously just a bit of a reintroduction for him. I’m not really across it, but I think that was just his first day of skills. It’s Payne Haas, so you guys know for yourself watching (what he can do).

"But there’s no pressure on him, he’s had that sort of injury, and we’re just looking for him to recover and get it right. His foot hasn’t come off the pedal, he’s been leading the way with the rehab boys, and consistency is just what he brings. If he was to get out there, it’d be awesome, but not pressure on him."

Kevin Walters declares Brisbane will make the NRL finals

The Broncos managed to sneak home 30-24 last weekend despite falling behind 16-0 to the Eels in the first half. And following the comeback win, Walters declared the Broncos will play finals footy this season despite still needing to win both their remaining games against the Dolphins and the Storm and other results to go their way.

"It wasn't a good start from our fellas," Walters said after the game against the Eels. "We went against everything we spoke about, but I admired their courage to stay in the game.

“It was a much-needed win obviously and it wasn’t that pretty but they hung in there well. They never gave up, that’s how they won the game. Some of the footy wasn’t very enticing but we got the job done. The important thing tonight was to come here and win.”

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Walters also hit back at the critics saying they couldn't make the finals after their horror start to the season, stating there was never any doubt within the squad that they would be playing in September. "There is no if here, we’re going to make the finals,” Walters said.

“Yeah (we can challenge in the finals). We will make the finals but we’ve got to play well next week. We didn’t play well and we managed to win but if we come up with that next week (against the Dolphins) it won’t be the same result.”

with AAP