Gagai credits supercoach with salvaging his career from scrap heap Wayne built me back up
DANE Gagai has credited Wayne Bennett for saving his career, admitting the England coach instilled the belief that has catapulted the Australian winger into a World Cup final.
The worlds of Bennett and Gagai will collide again tomorrow night when the Kangaroos ace attempts to topple the Poms and the supercoach who prevented him joining the Australian Rugby Union.
Five years ago, Gagai considered defecting to rugby after being sacked by the Brisbane Broncos, a period so turbulent the then 21- year- old was left briefly homeless and forced to sleep in his car.
Bennett, coaching Newcastle at the time, issued Gagai a lifeline after just one meeting, convinced the happy- go- lucky winger could become one of rugby league’s elite performers.
The benefits of Bennett’s investment will be truly realised tomorrow, when Gagai runs out for his fifth Test in his maiden World Cup final, forever grateful for the England coach’s show of faith.
“I will never forget what Wayne did for me,” said Gagai, who scored a double in last week’s 54- 6 semi- final rout of Fiji. “The best word to describe it is Wayne gave me that belief in myself. When I was let go by the Brisbane Broncos, they said I was struggling to make requirements with my weight and things like that.
“When he took me in to the Newcastle Knights, he said, ‘ I don’t care how much you weigh, as long as you are doing everything right and training hard, that’s all that matters’.”
Under Bennett, Gagai scored 17 tries in his first three seasons at the Knights between 2012- 14. The following year, he was blooded in the Queensland State of Origin team by Mal Meninga, now his Kangaroos coach.
Like Bennett, Gagai detects similar strands of loyalty in Meninga. He says both are successful as representative coaches because their care goes beyond the quest for results.
“Wayne is a great coach because he gets to know his players and gets more involved in the person,” Gagai said.
“When someone does that, you give them respect, it makes you want to work harder for them. Mal does that well, too, he looks after you as a person, not just a player.
“When I made my debut for Queensland ( two years ago), I wasn’t nervous because of the belief Wayne and Mal had given me.”
Gagai may be one of the greenhorns in the Australian set- up, but Meninga says his influence is already palpable.
“It’s the competitor in Dane,” Meninga said. “He hates letting the jersey down and that’s what I like about him and what he can bring to the Australian team.
“He really loves the game. He has a great passion for it. He is a great person, he does everything he possibly can to enhance the game which is fantastic. He is great around the group and plays damn good footy.
“He is fearless and he is a team player. All of the qualities you want in a player, Dane has got it.”