Broncos superstar Payne Haas has been ruled out of the grand final rematch against the Panthers on Thursday night after losing the race to recover from a knee injury.
It’s a significant blow for a Broncos side who were already going to be without halfback Adam Reynolds (knee).
“Payne won’t be playing tomorrow night,” Walters told reporters at Broncos training.
“He still has some problems with his knee so we the doctors will have a look at it this afternoon and give us a better diagnosis about where he’s at.
Haas re-entered the game after the injury but pulled up sore over the weekend, and didn’t train on Sunday.
Just two rounds into the season, coach Kevin Walters said the Broncos have decided to err on the side of caution.
“We always have our players’ welfare first and foremost from a medical point of view so we will do that for Payno,” he said.
“No one likes missing games and Payne is very competitive.
He feels he is letting the team down but he’s not, in actual fact he’s doing the right thing.
“We pulled him out to get his knee looked at properly and see what the issue is. “He didn’t feel 100 per cent today.
He is a key player for us so we will play him when he is fit.”
Walters was asked whether Haas could face longer than one week on the sideline.
He answered: “He could be, but we will be relying on the medical advice.
He will see some specialists and speak with our own doctor Matt Hislop on the process of getting him back to play.
