EXCLUSIVE: Phil Gould pleads for Payne Haas to stay at South Sydney forever and avoid 'sugar hit'

Phil Gould is hopeful Payne Haas' move to South Sydney won't just be a "sugar hit" and wants the star prop to stay there for life.

Haas' contract with the Rabbitohs will start in late 2026 and is a three-year deal, however a clause in it allows him to leave if Wayne Bennett is no longer in charge.

The prop was also a target for R360 but it appears any future change with Haas would relate directly to Bennett.

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Gould wants the front-rower to mirror the careers of other Souths legends.

"I hope he now plays his career out there. I would love to see him staying in the game and doing a Sam Burgess type role for South Sydney or a Greg Inglis type role where he inspires the next generation of South Sydney players," he said on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles with Gus.

"South Sydney are so important to our competition, every team's important, but South Sydney has such a history in our game and it's a massive coup. It's a massive coup for that club."

The signing for the Rabbitohs shocked the competition in terms of its secrecy with Brisbane bosses only days prior predicting he'd re-sign for another year.

Gould described the coup as a "military-style operation" and revealed he hadn't heard any whispers.

The Bulldogs boss speculation that Brisbane would've been blindsided by the decision but said there's always been a "restlessness" with Haas at the Broncos.

"To be honest, there has always been in the background enquiries about Payne Haas," he said.

"But the Broncos were going through some troubled times at the time as well, there were a number of players (in a similar boat).

"But he's won his premiership there now. For whatever reasons, he's decided he needs a change. People can speculate on that all they like; I don't listen to all those sort of rumours ... but for South Sydney, who lost Keaon Koloamatangi to the Dragons for 2027, it's a wonderful pickup. He's not cheap; I can't imagine he was cheap.

"There is still, I guess, the suggestion that he's hedging his bets and could go somewhere else in 2028, that it might only be a 12-month thing, I don't know.

"But there was always been a lot of speculation about this Rugby 360 thing, which I always thought was rubbish. I didn't think Rugby 360 was going to get off the ground if at all, but certainly not within the timeframe they were suggesting. I thought everyone was overreacting to that."

Gould also suggested the R360 interest may have opened his eyes to a different experience along with the Wayne Bennett factor.

The former Panthers boss compared it to when he almost signed Johnathan Thurston at Penrith, which would of "accelerated the course of our club at that time".

"It was kind of like one of those all-in type moments where this fella can accelerate and can change the whole perspective of our club, and I just feel like that's one of those moments with South Sydney that this was a deal probably they had to do, that that's the type of stature with which he's held, that's the effect that he can have," he said.

However, the sight of Haas in cardinal and myrtle will have to wait until 2027 and Gould believes there's still problems for South Sydney.

"He's not there for 12 months. It hasn't solved some of the other roster issues that they've got and it's going to make it more difficult for them to fill those positions," he said.

"And their roster's not getting any younger.

"... Since losing Adam Reynolds, they really haven't got a first-string halfback. So, you know, that's another thing. Payne Haas can only do so much on his own. But it is a huge coup, absolutely huge coup."

The Rabbitohs halves problem was only heightened during trials when Jonah Glover fractured his jaw against his former club St George Illawarra.

Jamie Humphreys and Cody Walker now appear certain to be the halves pairing while Jayden Sullivan sits in the background too.