I very much agree with the sentiment of your post. And I don't hold anything against Hook for sacking Gagai, he has shown that he won't stand for any crap. But a couple of things in your post do not make sense to me...
Firstly saying that we have the talent to simply discard Gagai. With Yow Yeh's injury, we are the weakest we have been on the wings for a very long time now. And when Hodges is out, we need to put a backrower in centres.
Secondly, saying that Bennett is trying to build a similar culture at the Knights. Well, what message is he sending by signing Willie and Gagai. He is obviously a firm believer in 2nd chances, or he is keen on winning footy games. My guess is the latter. To be honest I don't blame him.
Finally, mentioning about working hard to earn the right to play first grade. I think you even realised that this didn't make sense when you said, "having said that....". Basically Gagai gets to muck around at the Broncos then walk into a run-on side at the Knights... A little too convenient, it seems....
different circumstances, mate. he gets a clean slate at his new club, i would expect the same of any player moving to any club bar extreme examples such as Todd Carney.
I can tell you what message he's sending to the rest of the playing group by signing these blokes - "you're not doing your job". he'd be absolutely correct there, but he's stuck in a position where the blokes in the lower grades aren't doing theirs either at the moment. of course he's interested in winning football games. he's a football coach. it's the main KPI for his job.
I didn't say you had the talent to replace Gagai, i said your club was so strong it can afford to discard talent such as his. big difference. you may not have an immediate solution, but it won't matter. there will be others, and what is important is that when those others come, they have the right attitude.
the "leadership hole" at the Knights is pretty accurate, too. Gidley isn't a leader, but was probably the closest thing we had pre-Bennett along with Houston. Buderus was signed for this purpose. Willie may or may not have been, but has had an obvious effect if you've been watching our games (he was tremendous against the Titans and is only getting better every week thus far).
ultimately, if i were you blokes i'd be disappointed about missing out on a talent (at least in the short term, who knows what the future brings for Gagai)... but i'd be extremely proud of my club. you have to remember that Dane would have been well aware of what was expected from him. it's his fault he was moved on, not your clubs.
