Gags The Clubman

[perverse]

Just stumbled on this piece on Gagai and Browns relationship, and Gags attitude towards the club in general. I know it only echoes his past sentiments on the club, and that he's a bit maligned on here with some... but I thought it worth sharing:

http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...n/news-story/8294c5391d961273aaefcbf4542a39fd

Honestly, the guy can get a job elsewhere. It's nice to have a few players that really care about the wellbeing of the club. I think at this point he'll be a Knight for life barring something extraordinary happening. It's funny, you know... as delighted as I was when we signed him initially, I never expected him to fall in love with the club and fully expected him to be a Bennett boy.

 

[Caped Crusader]

Ive criticised his on field perfomances before, especially his defence, but ive never doubted the guys commitment to our club

He could have easily gone to another club for more cash, Broncos most likely, but he has chosen to stay in Newie and stick with the rebuild

 

[Glendale]

It is amazing to think, Bennett only left at the end of 2014, yet only one player remains.

Our team list from the 2013 prelim final vs Storm:

1. Darius Boyd
18. Kevin Naiqama
3. Dane Gagai
4. Joseph Leilua
5. Akuilua Uate
6. Jarrod Mullen (c)
7. Tyrone Roberts
8. David Fa'alongo
9. Danny Buderus
10. Willie Mason
11. Robbie Rochow
12. Beau Scott
13. Jeremy Smith

14. Matt Hilder
15. Chris Houston
16. Neville Costigan
17. Alex McKinnon

Really puts into persepective the rebuild and roster turnover we've had to go through since then. Gagai should be commended for sticking it out while the easier option was available, while others did the opposite.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I like Gags, he's been one of my favourite players since he got here. He hasn't always played to his ability and has copped a fair bit of criticism on here (some of it justified and some not) but the guy has been through thick and thin here and has toughed it out during the worst period of the club's history and he wants to stay and make us a force again. Say what you like about him but you've gotta respect him for that IMO.

 

[Still Nutty]

Just thinking how much this thread would bring a tear to 1qaz's eye ...

and this ^^^^

 

[slotmachine]

He's looking really strong this season. Now if we could get him decent ball rather than just rucking it out of our own end.

 

[Spot On]

His attitude and commitment to the club hasn't been questioned.

Just like most of the Bennett/Hagan era, it was the pay packet that had most shaking their heads.

Hes a decent first grader but I haven't seen what some claim to be a top line rep centre.

Iqaz was trying to sell us that he was a top line fullback. Well, I think we're all clear about that one.

 

[perverse]

I like Gags, he's been one of my favourite players since he got here. He hasn't always played to his ability and has copped a fair bit of criticism on here (some of it justified and some not) but the guy has been through thick and thin here and has toughed it out during the worst period of the club's history and he wants to stay and make us a force again. Say what you like about him but you've gotta respect him for that IMO.

Sums it up for me. I've got a lot of respect for the guy, he obviously has a lot of character. I don't think many would have begrudged him even for taking the easier option. I wouldn't have.

He's looking really strong this season. Now if we could get him decent ball rather than just rucking it out of our own end.

If we want to win more games, figuring out ways to bring him into the attack more is pretty crucial. The guy is a monster this year, he's put on some serious strength over the off season, but he spends most of his time wishing for the ball at the moment.

 

[Burwood]

I loved the guy when he arrived, loathed him for two seasons when his poor defense was constantly a focus, but I'm starting to fall back in love with him this year.

Having a smart footballer in Buhrer player next to him every week will do wonders for his defense and hopefully let him get back to what he does best.

 

[Zoidberg]

Good to hear his attitude towards the club and I really hope this is shared by many other players. I'd like to see him stay long term.

 

[Knight76]

Im warming more to him also this year. Hes a bastard to tackle. Just needs to learn how to put his winger away by commiting the outside defender.

For mine he balks when he gets to the defensive line too often. He should be working his way between the centre and winger and getting passes to our winger.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Ive criticised his on field perfomances before, especially his defence, but ive never doubted the guys commitment to our club

He could have easily gone to another club for more cash, Broncos most likely, but he has chosen to stay in Newie and stick with the rebuild

Not convinced that he could have gone to another club for more money. 570k per year is a lot of money for an outside back with faults in his game.

If Gagai can get his defence in order, I'd be happy to re-sign him. I'm stoked he has finally got out of his game the ability to get rag dolled backwards by the opposition.

 

[perverse]

He could have gone to Brisbane for $100k (on the books).

 

[Pedge1971]

I remember an article in the pre season where Buhrer was quoted as saying this isnthe tightest knit group of guys he has pkayed with and they might surprise a few people this year. I rolled my eyes at the time as u are hardly going to say we have no condifence or we hate each other.

But watching the first 3 rounds it is evident these blokes have each others back and are playing for each other. Brown has instilled some belief and no doubt the senior guys with 50+ game experience like Gags, Buhrer, Starling etc have been a massive part of that.

What I liked about Gagai on the weekend was Sio saw plenty of ball from him whereas he had a tendency in the past to tuck it under the arm and try and do it all himself.

He lost his way a little at the Broncs but seems to have grown up in Newy. Good on him! Keep it up! Love the goal of making the 8. Tbh even if it is pie in the sky to us fans the young blokes need to hear that from blokes like Gagai and Buhrer. After last year they need their tyres pumped up a fair bit.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Just stumbled on this piece on Gagai and Browns relationship, and Gags attitude towards the club in general. I know it only echoes his past sentiments on the club, and that he's a bit maligned on here with some... but I thought it worth sharing:

http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...n/news-story/8294c5391d961273aaefcbf4542a39fd

Honestly, the guy can get a job elsewhere. It's nice to have a few players that really care about the wellbeing of the club. I think at this point he'll be a Knight for life barring something extraordinary happening. It's funny, you know... as delighted as I was when we signed him initially, I never expected him to fall in love with the club and fully expected him to be a Bennett boy.

I hated having him al fullback, he was such a liability...

But he has great speed and footwork and a lot of heart. Now that we seem to have sorted him out defencively in the centres (or at least put guys around that can cover him), i love having him in the side.

I think a huge plus was getting Uate away from him; i wish Uate could have stuck round here, but those two together was a nightmare

 

[Mr_Knightside]

We've got to get him more ball, he looked dangerous whenever he had it on Saturday, even when running the ball out of our end he was busting tackles and getting in between defenders. Interesting that we've favoured our left side so heavily when our right side has probably been stronger over the last 5 or so years.

Having a guy like Buhrer playing along side him on our right edge can only be a good thing. In defence Buhrer gets through heaps of work and can hopefully communicate with Dane and tell him where to be, and in attack Buhrer is capable of getting the ball to him.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what this all looks like later in the year when our combinations are more settled.

 

[Knight76]

Ross is equally as good a centre as Gags, better I personally believe as he can find the line better than gags. He has the same ability to split the line and always looks dangerous with the ball, even when nothing is on he manages to bend the line.

Gags struggled last year pretty badly. God knows how he was selected for origin.

So no wonder this year we are going to the left side more. It's good to have two decent options on either sides.

 

[Pedge1971]

Not sure where to put this cause could not be f**ked to start a Hodko thread but off the field the guy is all class.



I think we all knew this and to be fair a lot of the criticism myself included has been more about on the field stuff which has been better the last 3 weeks.

But credit where credit is due....

 

[Alex28]

Saw the heading - was going to say the poster spelt cash wrong...

 

[perverse]

On Gagai, he's put the cue in the rack for us at this stage, but he's always been great for the club off the field, and handled his contract negotiations with aplomb. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him be successful elsewhere, much like another recently maligned prodigal son of ours (Aku).

On Hodko, clearly a really nice guy and fantastic ambassador for the club off the field. It's a real shame he can't play football real good no more, even at maximum effort. If Hodko has had any positive impact at the club, I assume it will be in providing a great role model for simply being a good human to our young squad.