Haas to inflict more pain in defence this year: Seibold

Broncos coach Anthony Seibold identified increased consistency in defence and the development of an off-load game as next steps in Payne Haas's development.

The 20-year-old, who played just three NRL games off the bench in 2018, was Dally M rookie of the year and prop of the year in 2019.

He also made his NSW Blues and Kangaroos debuts in a stellar season.

The power and stamina Haas displayed in 21 first grade games last season stamped him as one of the most promising young players of his generation.

"Payne is elite fit with regards to his strength and conditioning so the areas we are working hard with Payne are in and around his defence and making sure that he is really strong," Seibold told pan66.com.

"He is building consistency with it, and we saw that at the back end of last year, but I think we've seen him step up there this pre-season.

"He is a natural player carrying the footy so it has been a real focus on his defence and that is where I think the next growth in his footy can occur.

"We want Payne to offload the footy when it is a sighted offload so the other part of his footy that he can develop is his short passing game.

"We are trying to build that connection and cohesion amongst our forwards, so they are the two areas that he can continue to grow."

Haas, who had a 92.2 per cent tackle efficiency rate in 2019, has made rapid development and what has stood out to Seibold is the consistently high standard of his games.

Young players in the NRL can often have a great game followed by a mediocre one but that wasn't the case in 2019 where Haas ran for more than 200m on 10 occasions, including eight times in the last 10 matches that he played.

Seibold said the high standard Haas had set on the field was reflected by his application off it.

"The thing about Payne that I have really enjoyed in the pre-season is that he has been so consistent. His best and his worst days are really close together and that is the thing that I strive for," Seibold said.

"I want the guys to be really consistent and I know that Payne turns up here to get better. He is obviously still growing his game but we are happy with how he is tracking."