‘Will be worth nothing’: Gagai’s message after years of heartache
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Dane Gagai is five years removed from the only NRL grand final appearance in his glittering 339-game career and is still chasing an elusive premiership ring.
The veteran Knights centre has achieved just about everything in rugby league.
Dane Gagai celebrates after the preliminary final. NRL Images
He’s won multiple State of Origin series across his 23 games for Queensland and represented the Kangaroos, winning a World Cup in 2017.
On the flip-side, he was part of Newcastle’s horrible three-straight wooden spoons from 2015 to 2017, prompting him to leave the club and join South Sydney. Now, he is the only player remaining from Newcastle’s last preliminary final in 2013.
But the one item left to tick off Gagai’s bucket list is lifting the Provan-Summons Trophy on the first weekend of October – something he came agonisingly close to achieving in 2021 as part of the Rabbitohs’ grand final team.
In the match, Gagai set up what could have been the match-levelling try in the 73rd minute, throwing the final pass to put Alex Johnston over in the corner, only for halfback Adam Reynolds to shave the upright with his conversion attempt.
Souths failed to reel in the 14-12 margin in the dying stages in what was Gagai’s last game for the club, before returning for a second stint in Newcastle.
His first season back with the Knights saw them finish 14th on the ladder, but Gagai was given a glimmer of premiership hope the following two seasons, finishing fifth and seventh respectively, showing signs of improvement.
That all came crashing down in 2025 when the Knights finished as wooden spooners and you could have forgiven Gagai for giving up hope on NRL glory.
But under new coach Justin Holbrook, the club has gone from the bottom of the competition to being one game away from Gagai’s ultimate goal.
Gagai set the tone in the elimination final over the Bunnies, getting stuck into Latrell Mitchell in a fiery moment as the Knights scored a 20-10 upset.
He backed it up the following weekend against the Warriors, producing three linebreak assists and running for 100 metres in a narrow semi-final win.
The 35-year-old described last weekend’s preliminary final win over Penrith as “possibly the greatest performance from a team” in his entire career, which dates back to his 2011 debut with the Brisbane Broncos – the same club he will return to next season and likely finish his career with in 2027.
But due to the heartbreak of five years ago, Gagai knows not to get excited yet.
“Going to the grand final and just knowing what that felt like and losing it obviously sucks, but I was just chasing the feeling of getting back to a grand final and giving myself a chance to win it,” he told media after the prelim.
“Now it’s up to us to go win it. I know what it feels like to lose a grand final, so I’ll be doing everything I can to make sure my preparation is right.
Dane Gagai. Getty Images
“It’ll be worth nothing if we don’t get the job done.”
Gagai lauded the young crop of talent including Cody Hopwood, Fletcher Sharpe, Francis Manuleleua and Jermaine McEwen for the “never say die attitude” which epitomises the town of Newcastle and the wider Hunter region.
The departing veteran knows how much a victory will mean to Knights fans and knows they will be cheering them on – whether it’s in the crowd at Accor Stadium, at the official McDonald Jones Stadium watch party, at a pub or from the couch.
“We know they will be there, so we’ll be giving everything we’ve got,” Gagai said.
