South Sydney boss lifts the lid on how he signed Payne Haas

South Sydney Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly revealed the 72-hour rush it took to get Payne Haas's signature to have him call Redfern home. 

With Haas signing a three-year deal with South Sydney, it came as one of the greatest shocks in recent NRL history, a rare occasion where it had come out of the blue with no media attention attached to it.

It seems that Haas is looking for a change of scenery and to challenge himself in a different environment; he will leave the Brisbane Broncos at the end of this year.

When speaking with SEN, Sully revealed it was Haas's team that originally reached out, and that the prospect of reuniting with former coach Wayne Bennett was something he was searching for.

"Nobody knew anything and all of a sudden it just popped up," Sully said on SEN 1170 Sportsday.

"It was extremely quick. Payne's agent got in touch and said that he was potentially looking for a new challenge and that, as much as he loved Brisbane, he was keen to have Wayne as his head coach again … and was excited by what Souths could offer.

"Within sort of 72 hours, we'd agreed to a deal and we were able to sign him, and even better was to sort of do it without anyone really knowing it an avoiding some of the usual media interest and the speculation that goes with that.

"It was wonderful to get it done so quickly. Payne and Ahmad [Merhi] were great to deal with. In many ways, it's a measure of how the Broncos responded as well.

"Both clubs have got a lot of respect for each other, and we know that Payne and the Broncos have got a job to do this year, but we're very excited about him coming here."

Speculation has been mounting since he signed that Latrell Mitchel played a role in getting Haas down to Sydney as the duo has spent time with each other in Kangaroo and Origin camps in past years.

In 2027, the Rabbitohs will shape up as a premiership threat when Haas makes his debut for the club, and will have plenty of fans excited to see him run out in the red and green for the first time.