It was an eventful Friday night of NRL.
Broncos fans were the highlight, turning on Payne Haas after his bizarre release request as Penrith re-affirm their dominance over the league.
The Broncos scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to take out the win 35-24 over the gallant Titans.
Haas was met with a cold reception from his fans because he requested an immediate release.
Broncos fans letting Haas know their thoughts 😬
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The 22-year-old had been seeking a pay rise from $800,000, which he is currently on, to $1 million this year then $1.2 million from 2024.
The reception he received left him “rattled” and the young star felt as if he owes it to his teammates and fans to prove his desire to remain at the Broncos despite the turmoil throughout the week.
“I’m usually not one to get rattled, but when I heard the boos coming out tonight (and) when I got onto the ball it rattled me a bit,” Haas told Channel Nine post-match.
“But I had to compose myself and just stay in the game and do my job for the team.”
Second-rower Kurt Capewell re-asserted the importance of the prop and stated his respect for Haas for how he’s handled the situation.
“We love our fans; they’re passionate,” Capewell said.
“We weren’t too worried about it at all. We obviously knew it was happening.
“Payno wrote us a message and said, ‘Boys, I’m fully committed to you guys. Let’s go out and get the win this weekend’, and we did the job.
“He’s fully committed to the game. Did you see his efforts tonight? You tell me if he’s fully committed.”
The Panthers only took three minutes to assert their dominance over the in-form North Queensland Cowboys and never looked back with the 22-0 win.
However, it came at a cost with second-rower Viliame Kikau and five-eighth Jarome Luai both finding themselves on report.
Kikau was reported not once, but twice on the night for a dangerous throw and then for late contact to the head.
While Luai found himself in hot water for a shoulder charge on Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater but was given a grade-one charge and can accept a $1000 fine.
It’s a huge relief for the 25-year-old who would have been sweating on the finding with State of Origin around the corner.
Five more games are still to come in a blockbuster-filled round 12.