Payne Haas’ time at the Brisbane Broncos is coming to a close at the end of this season, and rising forward Xavier Willison has placed the onus on himself to help fill the departing star’s void. Willison says he will use the remaining weeks to learn from Haas, raise his minutes and fitness to play “big minutes, ” and prepare for the bench role planned for the upcoming match.
Payne Haas departure timeline
Payne Haas sent shockwaves through the rugby league community last month when he signed for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, and his Brisbane tenure will end at the conclusion of this season. The pattern suggests the Broncos now face a compressed timetable to redistribute the minutes and specialist workload Haas carried through the middle of the field.
Xavier Willison’s push for minutes
Xavier Willison has taken on direct responsibility: he said he must “get my gas tank up a bit more so I can play big minutes, ” and that he will keep taking tips off Haas, who he called “the best in the game. ” Willison also described his transition from a union background and credited Haas with mentoring him through that shift. The pattern suggests Willison is pursuing both physical and tactical gains to become available for longer stints.
Broncos at Suncorp Stadium
Head coach Michael Maguire has publicly acknowledged Willison’s progress, saying “He’s pushing hard, he’s doing well” and that “Big X is very capable now to push himself into that space. ” Maguire framed the squad as balanced and indicated the club is “rolling with what we’ve got, ” which points to an internal reshuffle rather than an immediate external replacement. That sequence underlines how the Broncos plan to rely on emerging players while Haas finishes his time with the club.
Willison will come off the bench for the Broncos this weekend as they take on the Parramatta Eels at Suncorp Stadium; that match is the next confirmed event in this transition. If Willison can sustain the longer minutes he is training for, the pattern suggests he could absorb a meaningful portion of Payne Haas’ on-field responsibility and reduce the short-term strain on the forward rotation.
