CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Queensland executioner Dane Gagai will tonight play his 23rd match for the Maroons.
The Maroons are chasing a third-straight State of Origin series victory at tonight’s Game III, and the statistics are on their side when it comes to playing the decider at home in Brisbane.
The men in Maroon will be revved up to just under the red line at a sold-out Queensland colosseum, as they look to exact revenge for the disappointing 38-18 loss to NSW in Game Two.
The 33-year-old Gagai hasn’t played for Queensland since his valiant contribution to the confidence-shattering 22-12 humiliation of NSW during an explosive Game III decider at Suncorp in 2022.
And once again, this veteran hardman could very well make the difference tonight. The difference between a rare series win for the inconsistent Blues – or the continued Queensland domination that has seen them take home the silverware in 15 of the last 20 series.
To the younger players in the Maroons squad, Gagai passes down a breadth of knowledge that was imparted upon him by the original eight-in-a-row Queenslanders. The men who paved the way for these two decades of rugby league dominance.
And as such, Gagai maintains the same practices and pre-game rituals that date back to the eras of Lockyer and JT.
In fact, even as recently as 2022, Gagai would still insist on getting pissed the night before Game 1 at the Novotel in Olympic Park. He sticks to traditions
Which is why there was no question at all what music was playing in his headphones at today’s media photo shoot. It could only be the dulcet tones of Queensland icon Bernard Fanning and his bandmates from the legendary Brisbane rock band Powderfinger.
“Vulture Street” said Gagai, when a Betoota Advocate field reporter asked what he was bumping in the airpods at Suncorp this afternoon.
“Whole album. Top to bottom. I’ll rotate this one six or seven times this afternoon, and then maybe throw on a bit of Odyssey Number Five”
“Maybe I’ll put on a bit of NME and Nokz in the sheds. Need some of that southside drill rap to really launch”
“Then, yeah, we all run out through to tunnel to Sunsets.”
Dane Gagai then gave our reporter a firm handshake and proceeded to slot a field goal in his moleskin trousers and RMs.
