Elephant Hunter
Juniors
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- 185
source - https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...s/news-story/5780cb13563fa03bee1c2aa7b8245042
DANE Gagai holds no ill-feeling towards Newcastle. He maintains a good relationship with coach Nathan Brown.
He’s not one to hold on to grudges. He knows they’ll only weigh you down in the cutthroat world of professional rugby league.
“If I did that I probably wouldn’t be where I am now,” Gagai explains to foxsports.com.au.
“I kind of tend to just move on. It is what it is. Move forward and look forward to the next part of my life.”
But the likeable Rabbitohs recruit admits he was driven out of the Hunter by a feeling of being unwanted at the Knights.
Gagai had an option in his favour to play for Newcastle in 2018, but opted to sign for South Sydney on a lucrative deal that will link him with close friend and mentor Greg Inglis.
The move might never have happened if it wasn’t for a feeling he was being pushed down the priority order on the Knights’ contract list.
Watch every NRL premiership game live in 2018 on Fox Sports. Sign up here to stream for free on a two week trial.
The club has pulled off one of its most aggressive recruitment drives in recent history, securing at least eight new players for season 2018, headlined by young gun Kalyn Ponga on a rich deal.
But Gagai is undoubtedly the club’s biggest loss.
He says he simply couldn’t wait for the Knights any longer.
“I was in a position where I was at a club that I really loved and cared for, but at the end of the day I wasn’t happy,” a candid Gagai admitted.
“I was going to training and trying to do what I could. I think looking back on it the three wooden spoons definitely had an effect on me.
“The biggest thing was I kind of had a feeling that I wasn’t really wanted at the club.
“When I spoke to my manager (Steve Gillis) and we had a sit down and he told me the Bunnies were interested, and when I spoke to them they told me how much they wanted me.
“At the end of the day it came down to that feeling of being wanted.
“The Bunnies were pressing hard to try to get me to go there, and Newcastle were trying to sign players and trying to rebuild.
“I guess I couldn’t really understand why they weren’t rushing to sign me.
“It was never really about the money for me. I’d been at that club for six years.
“They had signed Kalyn Ponga, which I was happy as ... but then they started going after all these other people, and I said to my manager what’s going on? What’s happening there (with my contract)?
“He said to leave it with him, and that’s what managers are there for, to sort that out.
“Time went past and I ended up telling them to put me out there (on the market).
“I’m not sure if it was a bit of miscommunication, but that’s just the way I felt personally.”
It was a tough six years for Gagai in the Hunter.
In his six seasons since moving south from Brisbane in 2012, the club played finals only once.
The Knights collected the competition’s wooden spoon in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and in the end it wore their star Origin rookie down.
It was with a heavy heart that Gagai informed his teammates and coach he would be packing his bags and heading to Redfern.
But the toughest part of signing with South Sydney was turning his back on the devout Newcastle fans.
“I’ve gone through it, but they’ve supported the club their whole lives and they went through everything with us,” he said.
“To get 13,000-plus turning up to games this year when we were going for a third wooden spoon ... it goes to show how resilient this town is. That was something that made the decision extremely tough for me.
“Every time I drove to a game, it was round 16 or whatever and we had only won two games, to still see those people turning up in red and blue, watching fathers take their sons through the gates ... it made it an extremely tough decision for me.
“I had to be a bit selfish in the end and do what was best for me.”
As much as Gagai might be unhappy with how Newcastle approached his contract negotiations this year, he won’t let it sit on his shoulders.
He believes in moving on. After all, rugby league is a business.
And he’s never held ill-feeling towards Knights coach Brown, who has babysat Gagai’s young son Dante, and with whom he shares a close relationship.
He’ll keep in touch even when he moves down the highway to Sydney.
“(Brown’s family) always come up and ask me; ‘when are we babysitting Dante again?’; because his kids want to play with him.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Browny, he’s a great man and a great coach.”
DANE Gagai holds no ill-feeling towards Newcastle. He maintains a good relationship with coach Nathan Brown.
He’s not one to hold on to grudges. He knows they’ll only weigh you down in the cutthroat world of professional rugby league.
“If I did that I probably wouldn’t be where I am now,” Gagai explains to foxsports.com.au.
“I kind of tend to just move on. It is what it is. Move forward and look forward to the next part of my life.”
But the likeable Rabbitohs recruit admits he was driven out of the Hunter by a feeling of being unwanted at the Knights.
Gagai had an option in his favour to play for Newcastle in 2018, but opted to sign for South Sydney on a lucrative deal that will link him with close friend and mentor Greg Inglis.
The move might never have happened if it wasn’t for a feeling he was being pushed down the priority order on the Knights’ contract list.
Watch every NRL premiership game live in 2018 on Fox Sports. Sign up here to stream for free on a two week trial.
The club has pulled off one of its most aggressive recruitment drives in recent history, securing at least eight new players for season 2018, headlined by young gun Kalyn Ponga on a rich deal.
But Gagai is undoubtedly the club’s biggest loss.
He says he simply couldn’t wait for the Knights any longer.
“I was in a position where I was at a club that I really loved and cared for, but at the end of the day I wasn’t happy,” a candid Gagai admitted.
“I was going to training and trying to do what I could. I think looking back on it the three wooden spoons definitely had an effect on me.
“The biggest thing was I kind of had a feeling that I wasn’t really wanted at the club.
“When I spoke to my manager (Steve Gillis) and we had a sit down and he told me the Bunnies were interested, and when I spoke to them they told me how much they wanted me.
“At the end of the day it came down to that feeling of being wanted.
“The Bunnies were pressing hard to try to get me to go there, and Newcastle were trying to sign players and trying to rebuild.
“I guess I couldn’t really understand why they weren’t rushing to sign me.
“It was never really about the money for me. I’d been at that club for six years.
“They had signed Kalyn Ponga, which I was happy as ... but then they started going after all these other people, and I said to my manager what’s going on? What’s happening there (with my contract)?
“He said to leave it with him, and that’s what managers are there for, to sort that out.
“Time went past and I ended up telling them to put me out there (on the market).
“I’m not sure if it was a bit of miscommunication, but that’s just the way I felt personally.”
It was a tough six years for Gagai in the Hunter.
In his six seasons since moving south from Brisbane in 2012, the club played finals only once.
The Knights collected the competition’s wooden spoon in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and in the end it wore their star Origin rookie down.
It was with a heavy heart that Gagai informed his teammates and coach he would be packing his bags and heading to Redfern.
But the toughest part of signing with South Sydney was turning his back on the devout Newcastle fans.
“I’ve gone through it, but they’ve supported the club their whole lives and they went through everything with us,” he said.
“To get 13,000-plus turning up to games this year when we were going for a third wooden spoon ... it goes to show how resilient this town is. That was something that made the decision extremely tough for me.
“Every time I drove to a game, it was round 16 or whatever and we had only won two games, to still see those people turning up in red and blue, watching fathers take their sons through the gates ... it made it an extremely tough decision for me.
“I had to be a bit selfish in the end and do what was best for me.”
As much as Gagai might be unhappy with how Newcastle approached his contract negotiations this year, he won’t let it sit on his shoulders.
He believes in moving on. After all, rugby league is a business.
And he’s never held ill-feeling towards Knights coach Brown, who has babysat Gagai’s young son Dante, and with whom he shares a close relationship.
He’ll keep in touch even when he moves down the highway to Sydney.
“(Brown’s family) always come up and ask me; ‘when are we babysitting Dante again?’; because his kids want to play with him.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Browny, he’s a great man and a great coach.”
