Inside story: Rabbitohs boss on 72 hours to sign Haas

Rabbitohs’ CEO Blake Solly has opened up on South Sydney’s perspective of the surprise signing of Payne Haas, revealing the whole deal took 72 hours to be completed.

South Sydney’s signing of Haas shocked the rugby league world as the game’s best prop inked a three-year contract with the Rabbitohs.

As fans scrambled to understand why Haas would leave the Broncos, a club where he is beloved and a premiership winner, the influence of Wayne Bennett, and close friends Latrell Mitchell and David Fifita became quickly apparent.

For Solly, the scramble was the whirlwind 72 hours prior to the news breaking, from realising signing Haas could be a genuine possibility to trying to hide one of the game’s biggest signings from the world.

“Nobody knew anything and all of a sudden it just popped up,” Solly told SEN 1170 Sportsday.

“It was extremely quick.

“Payne's (Haas) 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, having spoken to David Fifita and Latrell Mitchell about the environment here.

“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, and Payne and Ahmad (Merhi) were great to deal with.

“In many ways, it's a measure of how the Broncos responded as well, and the relationship that Dave (Donaghy) and I have got by the fact that we were able to announce it and they waived the cooling off period.

“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 in 2027.”

While the arrival of Haas in 2027 is exciting, the Rabbitohs’ attention is firmly focused on their 2026 campaign as the club looks to rebound from a horror season last year.

The club have added Titans’ backrower David Fifita, Storm’ utility Bronson Garlick, and Knights’ lock Adam Elliot, amongst others, to boost their stocks, while making several important positional changes.

None more important than Jye Gray taking over the Rabbitohs’ fullback jersey fulltime with Latrell Mitchell shifting to centre.

Gray impressed in his stints at the back for the Rabbitohs, averaging 172m a game over the season.

With the Rabbitohs naming a close-to-full strength side for their second trial game, Gray will don the number one jersey after a push from the squad’s senior players, according to Solly.

“(Gray’s) landed the custodian role at fullback, and Latrell (Mitchell) on that left centre, and I love the decision,” Solly said.

“It's been talked about for some time… he was almost undeniable. I mean, for such a diminutive, little fellow, he plays the game tough.

“He's a great asset for the team, and he's really developed. He came here as a five-eighth, and it's only probably 2.5 years playing at fullback, if that.

“So, maybe even 18 months at fullback, and to see how he's progressed and developed, the courage and the character he's got, he's probably a future captain of our club.

“He's a real leader, on and off the field.

“When the senior players were asked to pick their best 17, they all put Jye at fullback.

“The good thing is, I think this year we've got so much depth in that outside backs. If there's an injury, Campbell (Graham) can play in the centres, Jack (Wighton) can play right or left centre, Latrell can go back to fullback… so we've just got that depth and probably versatility that you need to have success in the premiership.”