Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters has refused to speak out on the club's finals hopes, but has revealed Payne Haas is closing on a return.
An understrength Broncos' outfit managed to scrape past the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday evening in the south-east Queensland derby after falling behind early in the game.
The win, which will heap more pressure on rival coach Justin Holbrook after the Titans suffered their seventh-straight loss, sees the Broncos win their second clash in a row without a number of stars, after a similar win over top-eight hopefuls the St George Illawarra Dragons last weekend.
Alongside the injury of Haas, Origin stars Selwyn Cobbo, Kurt Capewell, Patrick Carrigan and Corey Oates all missed the game, while a handful of other players are also out with injury.
It's understood the only player of Brisbane's Origin contingent conifmred to miss next week's critical game against the Parramatta Eels is Cobbo, who won't clear concussion protocols in time.
Walters said in his post-game press conference that Haas is "looking pretty good" as he attempts to return from AC joint issues in both shoulders, but also stated the club wouldn't rush him.
"He's looking pretty good but we won't rush him," Walters said.
"We've still got a lot of games to get through this year.
"If he's available for us and fit and ready to go, we'll certainly play him, but if he's not, we'll give him another rest."
And the Broncos have absolutely no need to rush Haas - who is one of the game's best props - back from injury.
The win over the Titans leaves the Broncos in fifth place, with 11 wins from their 17 games. While they will be desperate to overthrow one of the North Queensland Cowboys, Cronulla Sharks or Melbourne Storm ahead of them to gain a top-four finish and the all-important double chance, the club's move up the ladder has been astounding this season.
Walters stated finals aren't a goal, but that the club's atmosphere was to win premierships.
"We haven't spoken about it," said Walters, a six-time grand final winner as a player.
"It's not a goal of ours.
"The atmosphere at the Broncos is to win premierships and that's what we're about as a club."
The Broncos face a mixed, yet overall easy run home, with games against the Eels, Tigers, Roosters, Knights, Storm, Eels again and Dragons in the final seven weeks of the regular season before playing their first finals series since 2019.
