Haas of pain: Klese aims to keep streak alive in brotherly battle

Titans forward Klese Haas his hoping to keep his winning record over brother Payne Haas intact when the Titans take on the Broncos in the local derby in Round 14.

While the older Haas is seen as one of the premier players in the NRL with performances like the one that earned him player of the match honours in Game One of State of Origin, Klese currently holds a winning 2-0 record in the head-to-head stakes.

The two faced off twice last year, with the Titans getting a big 46-18 win in Round 22 at home a Cbus Super Stadium in a game where Payne featured for 10 minutes before succumbing to a foot injury, adding to their win in Round 12 at Suncorp Stadium last year, with the Titans getting the edge 36-34.

“Well, I'm up against Payne, so hopefully keep that streak going,” Haas said.

“(But) obviously he does (inspire me).

“My little brother's up there (with the Broncos) too, Hans, and just seeing those two thriving at the moment, it's just special to see.”

While Klese hadn’t spoken too much to his older brother in the lead-up to their showdown, besides checking in to see how his body was feeling after playing for the Blues, he did know that shutting him down would be key to the Titans snaring a break-through win.

“Just their key players, Payne, Patty [Carrigan]; just those boys, [Adam] Reynolds, just shutting down those boys would be the key,” Haas said.

The second rower also said while the results have been hard to come by in recent weeks, with the Titans winning only one of their past eight games, the side felt like they were not far off from turning the corner and had taken the positives from last week’s loss against the Storm.

“Honestly, I feel like we can take a lot out of it; we were right in it, it's just that five- minute period before halftime that kind of screwed us a bit, but I feel like if we just get our minor details right, then we'll be sweet,” Haas said.

“I feel like, aside from the Raiders game, we've been putting out good performances, just lapses in concentration, just that like little bit before halftime that gets us …, but I feel like once we get that we'll be sweet.”

In team news, the Gold Coast side have been dealt further injury blows with Sam Verrills and Jojo Fifita re-joining the casualty ward list, both with hand injuries.

The club also said they had been successful in their request for a concussion stand down exemption for AJ Brimson, who suffered a head knock at training in the lead up to last week’s match against the Storm.

Coach Des Hasler did not want to use injuries as an excuse for the side’s troubles, saying he expected the players he selected would be able to step up in their place.

“We tend not to lean on the excuse of injuries; we've got to move on,” Hasler said.

“It's really important that we adopt the sort of next man standing so to speak and we have just got to get on that.

“We've got to find a win and that win will come Saturday night.

“I just like the rivalry. I heard someone the other day talking about local derby. This is one of them, the Broncos and the Titans, so, it's fitting. Suncorp Stadium, plenty of atmosphere at 7.30 at night, so the more to come along to watch, the better.

“Both clubs tend to bring out the best of each other, so should be a really good contest.”