The mother of all tough calls for Gagai
IT was finally time for an emotional Dane Gagai to represent his mum’s heritage — even if that meant taking to the field against his long-time indigenous brothers.
The South Sydney and Queensland star has revealed how he made the agonising decision to reject the indigenous side for the February 15 All Stars match in Melbourne because he wanted to finally honour his mother, Tania.
Gagai was eligible for both sides with most anticipating he would return to the indigenous team for a fourth occasion. But he opted for the Maori side — a decision which touched Tania.
Tania was born on New Zealand’s North Island while Gagai’s dad, Ray, has Torres Strait Island heritage.
Gagai had sided with dad when playing for the indigenous sides in 2015, 2016 and 2017. This time however he wanted to represent Tania and chose the Maoris, despite being considered an indigenous leader.
“It was just a choice I made based on my background. I have represented the indigenous team before and saw there was an opportunity to play for the Maori team that I couldn’t pass up,” Gagai told The Daily Telegraph
“My mum was born in New Zealand. She was stoked when I made the decision.
“She knew I had played for the indigenous boys and thought that is what I was going to do again. “When I let her know I was playing for the Maori team she was obviously over-the-moon.”
Gagai admitted it was a difficult decision to knock back his indigenous brothers.
“Definitely,” he said. “But that’s the thing — I’m not choosing this team over that. It was just a chance to represent the Maori and I wasn’t going to pass that up.
“My dad is a Torres Strait Islanders He was born in Mackay but his parents were born in Torres Strait, that is where my family come from.”
Gagai and his South Sydney teammates are now preparing for the looming trial matches under new coach Wayne Bennett. The gruelling and tedious off-season training is just about over.
“Wayne has been great — I have played under him before,” Gagai said. “It was a matter of seeing how the boys took the noise (Anthony Seibold’s departure) in the preseason but everyone has adapted well, everyone is focused and Wayne is doing a great job. Everything is going well. We’re just looking forward to the trial matches and the season kicking off.”
Souths superstar Greg Inglis is back training after ruling himself out of the All Stars clash as he recovers from knee surgery in December.
Inglis will retire after next season and has publicly set his sights on one more premiership.
“Everyone knows the things Greggy has done and how competitive he is,” Gagai said. “We all saw that after he did his knee in round one (2017). For him to stay out there and keep playing just showed what type of person he is.
“He is a leader that doesn’t have to say much. He just leads with direction.”