The Brisbane Broncos insist they will keep playing Payne Haas despite admitting they are managing the powerhouse prop’s workload in the face of a number of injury niggles. It comes as the Bulldogs’ NRL finals hopes copped a major blow with news that fullback Connor Tracey is in danger of missing the rest of the season after being sent to hospital with an abdominal injury.

Broncos prop Haas has been dealing with an ongoing lower back issue that troubled him during the Blues’ Origin series defeat. And Haas was also seen limping at the end of Brisbane’s shock loss to Parramatta last week after a knock to the ankle, which fortunately wasn’t serious enough to require scans.

But the Broncos’ head of football Troy Thomson – who was also the high performance manager for the Kangaroos and the premiership-winning Rabbitohs side in 2014 – explained that it is more beneficial for Haas to continue training and playing with Brisbane. The 25-year-old wrecking ball trained on Monday and will continue to have his workloads managed, but the Broncos have rejected the suggestion that he should be rested.

“If Payne can’t play a game of footy of course we are going to give him a rest, but this whole notion that giving him a rest is going to fix him is not how the human body works,” Thomson told AAP. “Movement helps recovery. If you don’t move, you get sorer.

“We are managing Payne’s loads, like we do all of the players on an individual basis to ensure they are fresh enough but also have sufficient fitness, strength, flexibility and range of motion to play week-in and week-out NRL. It is about ensuring they have the right stimulus … and volume and intensity of load as well.”

Thomson said resting Haas for a fortnight would only lead to a de-conditioning of the muscles that support his back. And teammate Billy Walters said the fact Haas continued to defy pain for the sake of his side just showed what an ‘ultimate professional’ he is.

“He seems like he’s only going at 50 per cent and he’s still one of the best props of the game,” Walters said. “I’m out there slugging away trying to be the best and I’m injury-free and can do nowhere near anything he does. He’s a freak. He is a one-in-a-generation player and I am so glad he’s on my team.”

Bulldogs star Connor Tracey cops worrying injury before finals

The news is not so good for Canterbury’s Tracey, with Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould revealing that the fullback could miss the rest of the regular season. Tracey played the entire 80 minutes and was a standout in Sunday’s big win over Manly, but was sent to hospital after experiencing severe abdominal pain in the aftermath of the 42-4 win.

Gould told Nine’s ‘100% Footy’ on Monday night that Tracey had suffered an abdominal strain in recent weeks. And it’s since emerged that Tracey has a problem with his ‘inferior epigastric artery’ that requires a full three weeks of rest before he can even start training fully again.

“They were worried he would need surgery … Apparently it’s just the artery and doesn’t need surgery, but he needs three weeks’ complete rest before he can even get back into light training,” Gould said.

The Bulldogs have six games of the regular season remaining and will be desperate to see the fullback return for the finals. But Gould made the worrying confession that there’s a chance Tracey might not actually play again this year. “That’s only hopeful at the moment (that he’ll be back), but it’s bad luck for Connor and bad luck for the team,” Gould added.