Wayne Bennett: Gagai shouldn’t have been sacked

[QLD JANE]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...t/news-story/e94d7501641ba708f47ecf6921aa24e5

Gagai privately felt immense pressure to meet Griffin’s strict dietary standards, which saw him weighed almost daily and fined $500 if he failed to bulk-up to the necessary levels.
The Kangaroos debutant was so scarred by the experience the first question he asked Bennett when they met to resurrect his NRL career was whether the then Newcastle coach would weigh him.
For the first time, Bennett lifted the lid on Gagai’s stint at the Broncos, rubbishing suggestions he was a poor trainer who had an attitude problem.
“To this day, I honestly can’t understand why the Broncos let him go. A lot of people feel that way,” said Bennett ahead of Gagai’s Test debut in the World Cup opener tonight at AAMI Park.

“They always weighed him at the Broncos. They were making him eat too much.

“When we met, he asked me one question and that was — ‘Will you weigh me every day?’ I couldn’t believe it. I said mate as long as you don’t get fat and play good football, I don’t care what you weigh.
“Who knows where he could have ended up (after his sacking), but I brought him to visit me and after 10 minutes of chatting he agreed to come to Newcastle.
“It was the quickest deal I ever did.”
Gagai scored four tries in his first seven games for Brisbane in 2011 but never settled under Griffin.

When he turned up to Newcastle in 2012, Gagai had all his possessions stuffed in his car. Bennett found him a place to live with former Knights teammates Alex McKinnon and Korbin Sims.
“Those two guys were good for him. Korbin and Alex are both sensible guys,” Bennett said.
“I never had one issue with Dane. The only knock I ever heard is that he was late for training at Brisbane, but I can’t tell you the number of guys I’ve coached that were late for training as a 20-year-old.

“They would never have made it if I sacked them all.
“Wendell Sailor (Broncos wing legend) was the worst. I couldn’t get him to training on time, but you manage it and Wendell went on to have a great career.
“I’m elated for Dane making his debut (for Australia) because I know more than most what he has been through. All I ever promised him is that I would understand his situation. He won’t let Australia down.”

 

[ivanhungryjak]

Yeah, thanks for that, Hook.

 

[Broncs_Fan]

I love how folks on here always slam the DT but take this story like it's gospel truth.

 

[winslow_wong]

Hook is an idiot.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

I love how folks on here always slam the DT but take this story like it's gospel truth.

It's a bit different when they have direct quotes though.

 

[Broncs_Fan]

Wayne reminds me of Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now as he gets older. I don't trust his recollections anymore. Very self-serving.

Gagai most likely went out on the piss too much.

 

[broncos4life]

I love how folks on here always slam the DT but take this story like it's gospel truth.

Because it’s full of actual quotes. It’s not hard.

 

[broncos4life]

Wayne reminds me of Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now as he gets older. I don't trust his recollections anymore. Very self-serving.

Gagai most likely went out on the piss too much.

No.

 

[Alec]

Every story about Hook has something to do with weight, lol.

 

[Battler]

Hook has to be mentally challenged, there's no other explanation.

 

[broncos4life]

Hook has to be mentally challenged, there's no other explanation.

Dumb as ****.

 

[Jason Simmons]

I can see Hook’s point. You have to have standards and have to be able to draw a line in the sand when those standards are breached, but unless there is more to this situation than has been revealed, this is exactly why Hook had no business being a Broncos coach (or in reality an NRL coach) because those standards are ludicrous.

He couldn’t seem to grasp that some NRL players rely upon their speed and agility to be effective and making them add weight only reduced this ability. Some players need to bulk up, some don’t. But he didn’t seem to be able to pick those who needed to and those who didn’t. Barba was especially bad. Bulked up at Broncs, played like arse. Slimmed down at Cronulla got back to his best form.

Hook must have been scratching his head watching Barba carve up at the Sharks. I wonder if that decision making is what improved in his time away or Penrith realise that is clearly not his strong point and he doesn’t get to make those decisions?

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Seeing the back of you was the most satisfying thing I have experienced as a fan, Griffin. You're a fucking moron.

 

[BroncsFan]

I love how folks on here always slam the DT but take this story like it's gospel truth.

It's basically 90% quotes from Bennett haha

 

[Morkel]

Anyone actually recall Gagai playing for us? Every time he’d make a kick return he’s be ragdolled back 10–15 metres. Even trying to use his footwork and elusiveness he’d still get snared and dragged back.

Fines and pressure might not have been the answer, but Hook wasn’t doing it to be a prick.

Bennett didn’t mention that Hook is the one that recommended Gagai to him.

 

[winslow_wong]

Anyone actually recall Gagai playing for us? Every time he’d make a kick return he’s be ragdolled back 10–15 metres. Even trying to use his footwork and elusiveness he’d still get snared and dragged back.

Fines and pressure might not have been the answer, but Hook wasn’t doing it to be a prick.

Bennett didn’t mention that Hook is the one that recommended Gagai to him.

I remember him scoring a length of field try from a kick return and owning Chris walker for a try as well.

 

[Accept]

Anyone actually recall Gagai playing for us? Every time he’d make a kick return he’s be ragdolled back 10–15 metres. Even trying to use his footwork and elusiveness he’d still get snared and dragged back.

Fines and pressure might not have been the answer, but Hook wasn’t doing it to be a prick.

Bennett didn’t mention that Hook is the one that recommended Gagai to him.

I recall him being quite lethal in his early days. He looked like something pretty special but rarely got a gig. Hook is too stupid to be a prick. Needless to say, Gagai's career immediately sky rocketed after another one of Hook's brilliant player movements.

 

[Morkel]

I remember him scoring a length of field try from a kick return and owning Chris walker for a try as well.

So? He had deficiencies that put us in the back foot just about every time he had the ball kicked to him. Hook tried to fix that. You don’t just ignore those deficiencies because he did this one thing one time.