Klese Haas and Payne Haas will face each other for the fifth time on Saturday night, when the Titans meet the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium in the M1 derby. The sibling showdown lands with both clubs badly in need of relief from ugly runs of form, and with the younger Haas looking for the kind of bragging rights his older brother has held in past meetings.
The 24-year-old Gold Coast forward said the pair have split their previous four clashes, two wins apiece, and that the match carries the kind of edge only family can bring. Payne, 26, has been a force again in recent weeks, running for 281 metres and making 33 tackles in a 30-26 loss to St George Illawarra, while Klese has built into a regular NRL forward with 70 games behind him.
Klese said he and Payne talk almost every day, and that his brother is usually the first person to message after games to ask how he pulled up. He said Payne often follows that with a paragraph of things to work on, a habit that has made the rivalry unusual for all its bite. “He always calls me and gives me like a paragraph of stuff to work on after games, so it’s good to have someone to lean on like that,” Klese said.
The game arrives at a difficult moment for both sides. Brisbane have dropped four straight and sit 11th, while Gold Coast have lost five in a row and are 16th, so the derby is not just about family pride but about stopping a slide that is already chewing into both seasons. Klese said he expects hostility at Suncorp after a loss, but said the Titans are ready for it and are still confident their own performances have been better than the ladder suggests.
He pointed to a series of narrow misses and said the issue has not been effort so much as the finishing touches, with Gold Coast’s defence strong enough to keep them in games but attack still needing repair. That is the hard edge in Saturday night’s meeting: one brother can help his side celebrate, but neither club can afford another loss without the pressure growing louder.
The result will not settle the bigger family story, especially with Klese contracted to Gold Coast for 2027 and Payne due to join South Sydney next year. For now, though, the next chapter comes in Brisbane, and the winner of this fifth clash will leave Suncorp with more than points on the board.
