NRL 2021: Dane Gagai signs with Newcastle Knights, Anthony Milford on Rabbitohs’ radar
The NRL transfer market shows no signs of slowing down, with Newcastle beating out Brisbane to a key signing, which could open the door for an unwanted playmaker to find a new home.
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Dane Gagai will return to Newcastle in 2022 paving the way for South Sydney to throw Anthony Milford an opportunity at the Rabbitohs next season.
Gagai has opted to return to Newcastle, rejecting a one-year contract extension at South Sydney and a three-year deal from the Broncos. Instead Gagai will join the Knights next season on a deal worth about $1.5 million.
A changing of the guard is happening at Redfern with Gagai following coach Wayne Bennett plus teammates Adam Reynolds, Jaydn Su’A and Patrick Mago out the door.
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Gagai had a successful six seasons in Newcastle, playing 128 games for the Knights between 2012-17, where he developed into a Queensland and Australia representative.
The Rabbitohs hoped they could convince Gagai to re-sign for a further 12 months which would have opened up the door for him to consider joining a new expansion team.
Broncos coach Kevin Walters viewed the 30-year-old as the perfect centre option to fill the void of strike weapon Kotoni Staggs, who will shift to five-eighth next season in a new scrumbase pairing with Reynolds.
The Broncos hoped by signing Reynolds they may have been able to attract Gagai, who made his first-grade debut at the club, as well.
Bennett said Gagai broke the news to his teammates on Friday afternoon.
“South Sydney couldn’t offer him a long-term contract, so we knew he was on the move,” Bennett said.
“He spent a lot of his career at Newcastle and he has some family there, I think he’s pretty happy to be going back. I think he’s playing his best football at the moment. Each year I’ve been here he’s gotten better.”
Gagai will join a star-studded backline at the Knights which includes Kalyn Ponga, Bradman Best, Hymel Hunt and Mitchell Pearce. The Knights view Gagai as a perfect mentor to some of their rising superstars.
The Knights have made a stack of re-signings in recent weeks with Hunt, Daniel Saifiti, Jacob Saifiti and Kurt Mann extending their contracts.
The turnover of players at South Sydney will present a challenge for incoming coach Jason Demetriou who will replace Bennett at season’s end.
The Rabbitohs have already discussed making a play for Milford and now they will consider if they offer the Bronco a one-year deal to potentially partner Cody Walker in the halves.
While Bennett has no say on South Sydney’s recruitment, he has given Milford a glowing endorsement.
“I think he’d be a great acquisition for South Sydney, but that’s a decision that’s not on my watch now, it’s on Jason and the rest of the club,” Bennett said.
“But I would have no hesitation if the market value was there and it would benefit South Sydney, which I believe it would. But it’s just about the price they can pay and what they can’t do.”
Meanwhile, Walters broke his silence on the immediate release of controversial Broncos forward Tevita Pangai Jr, who will join the Panthers next week on a short-term deal before linking with the Bulldogs next year.
Walters defended Brisbane’s decision to offload Pangai Jr, who was contracted until the end of next year.
“It’s a good result for the Broncos and a good result for Tevita,” he said.
“Tevita has served this club brilliantly, but we just feel we needed to shape our roster for 2022 and the time was right for it to happen.
“We wish Tevita all the best at the Panthers and then the Bulldogs in 2022, he has been a good person here and we were thankful to have him at our club.
“We wanted to get our roster in order, we were top-heavy with middles so we had to move a couple of players on to free-up space for other positions in our roster.”
Asked if Brisbane will continue their spending spree, Walters said: “It’s only happened the last few days with Tevita, there’s a few options out there but we will make a decision on that (recruitment) early next week.”
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