By Michael Chammas

Copyright smh

It’s difficult for Haas to speak about his parents in such a way as he knows it will anger some people, given the impact they have had on the lives of others. He doesn’t expect sympathy and says life has exposed him to things no child should see.

It’s the driving force behind his desire to give his two children and the two brothers he has taken in the life he wished he had.

“I don’t want my kids to grow up in the environment I grew up around,” he said.

“I’m trying to keep them away from that life. I want them to grow up in a house where we’re all loving, we’re all respectful. I’ve seen things that I wouldn’t wish on anyone, even my worst enemy. I don’t want that for my kids. I just want them to see their parents love each other, they care about them and they want them to do good in life.

“I’ve seen lots of people in my life go down the wrong road. Especially some of my cousins and close friends. They were probably more talented than me, but probably went down the wrong road. I feel like I’ve learnt from their mistakes and try to make that up for them by carrying them on my shoulders.”

Haas wasn’t always destined to be a footballer.

It wasn’t until the age of 14, after rigorous training set by his father, that he began to excel in a sport he now dominates.

“From 7 to 11, I sucked,” he admits.

“My mum hated it. She used to take me to games and I’d see my mum pacing up and down, and I knew I would cop a serve on the way home. My dad made me train hard after that. I started to get good around 14. My dad worked me hard. I owe a lot to him, but I also resented my dad a lot.

“Every morning and every afternoon, I’d be training, doing hills. My dad used to be a sprinter and a hurdler. He went to the Pan Pacific Games as a kid. So he used to train me hard. He also was in the military for a bit, so he was pretty [disciplined]. He would drop us off at random places 6km away and tell us to run home.”

“My dad used to say, ‘You don’t want to be a typical Polynesian and be all power, your fitness has to be number one.’ At the time, I hated it. I was a little fatty. I just wanted to go to my grandparents’ house to eat corned beef.”

Some regard Haas as the greatest front-rower of the modern era, if not all-time. Yet, there is a glaring absence in his resume, compared to the likes of Shane Webcke, Petero Civoniceva and Glenn Lazarus.

“I feel like I do need a [premiership] ring to have that name next to me,” he responds when asked about his potential mantle as the greatest prop of the modern era.

“To have that accolade, it puts you up another level. That’s what I’m chasing now. I feel like I’ve achieved everything individually and in rep teams.

“The ring is the final thing I’m missing. We’ve got the squad. We just have to go after it. On our day, no one wants to play us.”

Enter the Penrith Panthers.