It looks like a rushed article followed by file copy, so I'll post it before they edit.
Mark Gasnier signs with St George Illawarra Dragons
MARK Gasnier has revealed he was "bitter and angry" about being forced out of St George Illawarra - but he's returned for the sole purpose of winning a premiership in the famed Red V.
Today, rugby league gets one back when Gasnier announces at a 3pm press conference he is coming home to the Dragons.
His 4 1/2-year deal is worth $1.9 million and will see him at the club until the end of 2014.
The 28-year-old is expected to make his return against the Panthers next Monday night at Kogarah Oval.
MARK Gasnier is standing in the middle of the dressingrooms at Kogarah Oval next Monday night.
He pulls the white jumper over his head, peers down at the red V. And how will that feel?
"Good," smiles Gasnier. "I've thought about that a lot. You look at your jersey when you put it on ... and it's a bit better than pink."
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He's referring to the garish hot pink strip of Stade Francais he has worn since the middle of 2008, when he was forced to switch clubs, codes and countries after walking out on St George Illawarra - while captain - because of a contract dispute.
Yet today, "Les Gaz" completes a stunning homecoming when he announces a new 4 1/2-year deal with the Dragons worth $1.9 million.
Amid the scandalous headlines of this NRL season, today's are worth relishing.
Speaking over tapas in a Spanish restaurant in Surry Hills late last week, the 28-year-old opened up about why he left, why he didn't want to become a Wallaby and where he goes from here.
Paris or bust
Gasnier left the Dragons midway through 2008 when enough became enough.
For 18 months, he had not been paid external third-party agreements that were supposed to be coming his way - even though the club had fulfilled its contractual obligations.
Ironically, the loosening of salary cap rules, which allow NRL clubs to guarantee such agreements, were announced by the NRL last week and would have allowed Gasnier to stay.
"Would I have been crying poor if I stayed?" he says.
"That's not the point. The point is when you sign a contract and you honour your end, they should honour theirs. If I wasn't firm and didn't set a date, how many times would I have had to keep budging?"
Accordingly, Gasnier accepted a two-year deal worth $850,000 to sign with Paris club Stade Francais.
"It was a huge shock to leave," he says. "It took at least six months for it to set in. When I got to France, Paris was new, rugby was new. Then it sunk in. I definitely had thoughts I had given a lot up."
When Gasnier wasn't playing rugby, he was travelling throughout Europe, often surfing off Morocco and along the Spanish coastline.
"For the first six months, I didn't watch much league at all - and then I got right back into it," he says. "And Mum always updated me on how the Dragons were going anyway."
The way back
While negotiations involving his manager, George Mimis, Dragons boss Peter Doust and the NRL have been on in earnest for the past 10 weeks, Gasnier first started toying with the notion of returning to the Dragons around Christmas last year.
About four months ago, he phoned Dragons mastercoach Wayne Bennett.
"I had a conversation with Wayne about coming back - to rugby league in general and to St George Illawarra. Then I started to think about it more and more.
"Wayne was typical Wayne. It wasn't a matter of all things being equal. He was wondering where my mindset was. Saints were going so well, it wasn't like they desperately needed me."
Rebel without the ball
Make no mistake: returning to Australia to play rugby union was a serious consideration. Gasnier met with coach Rod Macqueen several times about joining new Super 15 franchise Melbourne Rebels.
Yet it was his frustration at playing on the wing, on boggy European fields during winter, which spooked him about the possibility of ultimately becoming a Wallaby.
"The carrot of playing in the World Cup and being a dual international was there. But I was missing the involvement and influence you can have when I was playing rugby."
Asked if standing on the wing made him realise that he wanted to return to the game he loved, Gasnier says: "I'd be lying if I said it didn't. Maybe not on the field, but when I finished I would sometimes think about it.
"It made up my mind. Would it have been the same in Super 14? I thought, 'Well, if I was 23 or 24 I could risk two or three years and then go back if I didn't like it'. But if I was going to be true to myself, I was always coming back to the Dragons."
Cooking with Gaz
So can Mark Gasnier return to the player he was when he was the first centre picked in NSW and Australian sides?
"I think so. I'd love to. It's challenging because players are aware of what you can do. As you get older, it gets harder to be consistent. But that's the exciting thing about coming back - to get back to that."
Since returning to Australia in May, Gasnier has been working with long-time Dragons physio Andrew Gray.
"If there was ever a guy I wanted to work with when I came back to league, it was him. He's had me my whole career since I came into grade and knows what rehab work I have to do. He's been great and I have to apologise to his wife because he's been with me almost every day."
The Holy Grail
Gasnier does not hide from the fact he has returned to the Dragons to win a premiership.
"Wayne has brought a calming effect. Not an emphasis on wanting to do it but how to do it. I would love to hold the trophy up in October."
