Tom Flegler vows to stand up to NSW enforcer and former Broncos teammate Payne Haas, reveals why he had to leave Brisbane
Tom Flegler and Payne Haas were once Brisbane’s front-row pillars. Now the pair are bracing for fireworks in Origin II with Maroons hardman Flegler detailing the reasons behind his exit from the Broncos.
Tom Flegler is preparing himself to go to war with NSW enforcer and one-time Brisbane partner-in-crime Payne Haas as the Maroons hardman opened up on his departure from the Broncos.
Flegler and Haas will square off in the Origin arena next Wednesday night for the first time since they were Brisbane’s front-row twin towers in the Broncos’ gut-wrenching grand-final loss to Penrith in 2023.
Haas is now back in sky blue after missing the Origin opener with a knee injury and the Maroons are banking on Flegler’s firebrand style to combat the NRL’s No.1 prop.
If anyone Maroon can appreciate the brutal brilliance of Haas, it is Flegler, who played five seasons with the champion prop in Brisbane’s engine room and admits the Blues spearhead cannot bash down Queensland’s front door in Origin II at the MCG.
“Most definitely, that is where most big games are won or lost – in the middle of the field,” said Flegler, who will partner Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in Queensland’s starting front row.
“I grew up playing at the Broncos when Payne was there and it is great to see him back in the Origin arena.
“We are very different players but what he has done in the game … he is arguably one of the best front-rowers to have ever played.
“He is obviously very professional. Payne developed very quickly at a young age, a lot quicker than I did anyway.
“He is very professional on and off the field with the way he conducts himself in general.
“We (Flegler and Fa’asuamaleaui) are going to have our work cut out for ourselves.
“We are going to have to dig deep, bite down on our mouthguard and be prepared to work hard.”
Flegler and Haas were Brisbane Academy young gun who were groomed for a decade of dominance in the Broncos’ front row, but neither will be at Red Hill from next season.
Haas will link with South Sydney from 2027, quitting the Broncos three years after Flegler dropped a bombshell by walking out on Brisbane and defecting to fierce expansion rivals the Dolphins.
Flegler’s last game alongside Haas was in the 2023 grand final, when the flame-haired firebrand scored a potential premiership winning try, only for Brisbane to lose 26-24 to Penrith in the dying minutes.
The Dolphins paid around $3.2 million for Flegler’s services but money alone wasn’t his sole motivation for leaving the Broncos.
The Tully tearaway, once rated the next Shane Webcke, had aspirations to be the No.1 prop in a team and that was never going to happen at the Broncos, who had invested heavily in Haas and captain-in-waiting Pat Carrigan.
The presence of Haas effectively cost the Broncos Flegler. In 2027, Brisbane’s front-row will be devoid of the Origin rivals.
“It probably was (hard) at the time,” Flegler says of his decision to leave the Broncos at the end of 2023.
“We didn’t go out the way we wanted to (in the grand final). We were very close to winning it.”
Asked why he quit Brisbane for the Dolphins, he said: “A bit of everything. They were building a good team at the time and Wayne (Bennett, then Dolphins coach) was there, too. He was a big reason why I went.
“I think just to be the player I wanted to be and develop a bit further. The Broncos had some very dominant forwards and I think I needed to get out of their shadow a little bit and try my own thing.“
Flegler has largely gone through hell at the Dolphins. He missed almost two years of football due to a nerve problem in his shoulder that required transfer surgery. But the 26-year-old has bravely fought back this season to win a Maroons jumper and he scored a try in his first Origin game in 1071 days in the series opener.
It reinforced why Flegler belongs in the Origin arena and he is desperate to help the Maroons save the series before 90,000 fans at the MCG.
“It was great to be back,” he said.
“You know Origin is going to be quick but until you get out there and start playing you don’t realise how quick it is.
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“Obviously I have got to manage my shoulder given the injuries I have had on it. We have got to monitor it but it has been better than we could have asked for to be honest. It is travelling really well at the moment.
“It is hard to explain. I can still do everything that a person can do with normal shoulders, but I’ve got to be careful.
“No shoulder charges that is for sure.”
Originally published as Tom Flegler vows to stand up to NSW enforcer and former Broncos teammate Payne Haas, reveals why he had to leave Brisbane
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