Australia suffer huge Ashes blow as star defects to Samoa in major bombshell

Australia coach Kevin Walters has been dealt a major blow for this autumn’s Ashes series: with star forward Payne Haas ruling himself out of contention for the series.

Haas has officially walked away from Kangaroos selection moving forward according to reports in Australia, with the Brisbane Broncos star committing his international future to Samoa instead.

It is a major blow for Walters, who had set his sights on pinning down a number of players that were eligible to play for other nations including Haas.

One of the NRL’s standout forwards, the absence of Haas undoubtedly represents a major blow for the world champions as they prepare to head to England later this year.

Walters has also targeted Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow for the series, and will hold talks with the pair to try and convince them to represent Australia.

But one player who will definitely be missing is Haas, who has reaffirmed his allegiance to Samoa not only this year, but for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.

Haas has made four Test appearances for the Kangaroos during his career, and would have been a certainty to be involved in Walters’ team for all three games if available.

But he will now focus on Samoa in the Pacific Championships instead, leaving Australia with a huge whole in their potential squad.

Samoa coach Ben Gardiner had admitted that he was hopeful of convincing Haas to make the switch. “I’m hopeful that Payne will commit to us,” he said.

“His agent and our general manager Hanan Laban have had discussions over the last few weeks and we think Payne will make some sort of decision on what he is going to do in the next week or so.

“Hopefully it works in our favour when Payne makes a decision. To have another elite player like Payne come and join us, if it is to happen, would be awesome heading into the World Cup next year.”