BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 10: Payne Haas of the Broncos is tackled during the round nine NRL match between the Manly Sea Eagles and the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on May 10, 2019 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
The Brisbane Broncos are set to receive a major boost for their clash against the Penrith Panthers as the Melbourne Storm are set to name a young gun.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Kevin Walters all but confirmed that Payne Haas is an almost certain starter for the Grand Final rematch against the Panthers on Thursday night.
“We will make a final decision on tomorrow but at this stage Payne is going to play,” Walters said.
“It's not a serious issue. He ran by himself the other day with the rehab group, but as it stands Payne will be playing.
“We'll see how he pulls up after the captain's run but unless there's a major change Payne will be there.”
This comes after rumours emerged that Haas would be joining veteran halfback Adam Reynolds on the sidelines.
The knee injury to Adam Reynolds will see Jock Madden be called-up to the starting team, joining Ezra Mam in the halves. Xavier Willison will remain on standby if Haas cannot take the field.
The Melbourne Storm are set to call up young gun Sua Fa'alogo after he scored three tries for the North Sydney Bears in the NSW Cup against the New Zealand Warriors.
The fullback will enter the team - likely on the interchange bench as a utility - due to the suspension of Jahrome Hughes and injury of Cameron Munster.
Jonah Pezet will remain in the halves, with Tyran Wishart set to be promoted from the interchange to join him in the playmaking role.
“Whilst both Jahrome and the club fully support and totally endorse the protection of referees in our game, we believe Saturday's incident was an accident,” the Storm said.
“Further, we believe the contact was unavoidable and the grading of the incident was too harsh given the circumstances where Jahrome was concentrating on making an important tackle in the context of the game and not fixated on the movements of the referee.
“Jahrome has reached out to referee, Chris Butler, to apologise and reinforce that his actions were unintentional.
“We are disappointed that an unsuccessful challenge on the grading would have also resulted in an extra week suspension.
“We acknowledge the system is in place to avoid judiciary hearings but, in this case, we believe the risk of the penalty for contesting the charge is too high considering the circumstances of the incident.
“In the end, the threat of an extra week suspension on top of our club's bye next weekend was the overriding factor in our decision but we don't believe this is a fair outcome.”