Star Gold Coast Security Assaulted by Aussie Rugby Star’s Mom. She Now Heads to Jail

Posted on: September 1, 2022, 07:49h. 

Last updated on: September 1, 2022, 01:22h.

Erik Gibbs Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Gaming Business, Global Gaming.

They say that rugby players have short tempers. If so, Payne Haas comes by it naturally, as the Australian rugby star’s mom is facing jail for losing hers at the Star Gold Coast casino.

Payne Haas of the Brisbane Broncos
Payne Haas of the Brisbane Broncos reacts after losing a match to the New Zealand Warriors. The rugby player’s mother will spend a month in jail for assaulting two security guards at the Star Gold Coast. (Image: Photosport.nz)

Haas is a prop for the Brisbane Broncos, where he’s spent the past four years. He’s the nephew of former Newcastle Knights and Cronulla Sharks star Mark Taufua, and brother to Klese Haas of the Gold Coast Titans.

Rugby is part of the family. There’s no indication that his mother, Uiatu “Joan” Taufua, ever played, but she probably would have been good at it if she had.

Spit Spat at the Star

This past May, Taufua paid a visit to the Star Entertainment property. At some point, for reasons no one has been able to explain, the trip went haywire. The Australian Associated Press reported that the 46-year-old attacked two security guards, spitting on them and punching.

Police arrested Taufua after the incident, although she walked away pending a trial for her violent outburst. That took place today, and she’s now on her way to a temporary new home in a jail cell.

The judge in the case ordered Taufua to nine months behind bars, though most of that was suspended. As a result, she will only spend one month in jail.

Haas and his mother have colorful histories. Haas received a suspension and a fine in 2019 for refusing to cooperate with an investigation the National Rugby League was conducting at the time. The following year, he got into a fight with a rival rugby player, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, during a match.

In 2021, Haas received another fine and suspension for intimidating police. This past April, the Broncos launched an investigation after a video surfaced of him in a drunken brawl with a teammate.

A month later, the same month as Taufua’s incident, Haas requested a transfer from the Brisbane squad. The team rejected the request, but his status with the fans hasn’t been the same since.

Taufua also has history with the police. In 2019, she attacked a delivery driver in an incident later described as road rage. She left the man with a fractured cheekbone, a broken nose, and a busted lip.

Don’t Push Me Around

Another Aussie woman recently had a run-in with security personnel at a casino – not once, but twice. 24-year-old Denna Patricia Smith was at The Ville Resort-Casino on July 7 when she got into an argument with someone on the casino floor. Security escorted her outside and thought that was the end.

However, Smith returned later that night. She apparently hadn’t cooled off from the earlier incident and began picking a physical fight with security and the person with whom she had the verbal altercation the first time.

The security personnel needed medical treatment as a result, which they received from an ambulance called to the scene.

Smith pleaded guilty to being a public nuisance and had to pay a fine of AU$1,000 (US$681).