Payne Haas: When Change Became a Personal Choice
Payne Haas entered Australian rugby league as a young man surrounded by fame and expectation. In a 2019 interview, he said that he had followed no religion beforehand. Near the end of 2018, he felt that he was heading down a path he did not want and needed a genuine change.
He already knew Muslims and regarded Islam as beautiful. A later ABC interview in 2024 added an important detail: his older brother converted first, prompting Haas to read extensively about Islam, after which he began to fall in love with the religion. That explains the opening of his search without cancelling his earlier insistence that the decision was his own and that nobody had planted it in his mind.
A profile published in June 2019 placed his conversion near the end of 2018. Haas said Islam had taught him a great deal, and spoke of the value of keeping good people around him. The choice itself, he insisted, had been his own. [H1, H2]
His father worried about outside influence, while his mother asked why he needed to follow a religion. She later recalled his explanation that he connected with this faith and found peace. Speaking in 2019, she said she had seen a positive change and regarded Ramadan as an exercise in discipline, strength and restraint. [H1]
By May 2019, he had stopped drinking and was observing Ramadan alongside training and competition. He spoke of focus and supportive company, and of Sonny Bill Williams checking on him by message and offering advice about life. In his 2024 ABC conversation, he again described Williams supporting him through difficulties, including matters of faith. [H2, H3]
The account preserves a careful balance between the influence of example and freedom of choice. A brother or friend may open a door to reading, and companionship may help after a decision, yet Haas continued to attribute the choice to his own search and need for change. In the wider interview he wanted younger people to know that it is not too late to change. [H1, H3]