‘Won’t let Latrell bully me’: Gagai opens up on Mitchell stoush

Newcastle veteran Dane Gagai has spoken about his personal battle against Latrell Mitchell that lit up the opening night of the finals, declaring “I wasn’t going to let him push me around.”

The Knights produced a monumental upset on Friday night, beating South Sydney 20-10 at Allianz Stadium despite the absence of Jacob Saifiti, Dylan Lucas, Dylan Brown and Trey Mooney.

One of the highlights of the match was the running battle between Gagai and Mitchell, who last week produced the tackle of the year on Roosters playmaker Toby Rodwell at the same ground.

The former Rabbitohs teammates reprised a rivalry that had stretched for over a decade at club and State of Origin level that at one point threatened to spill over on Friday night. However, Gagai was confident it would never lead to punches or a player being sent to the sin bin.

“Nah, it was just a heat of the moment thing,” Gagai said. “And he’s obviously sticking up for his teammate. I was trying to get the ball off Alex Johnston, and he come over, stood up for his teammate.

“I wasn’t going to let him push me around. And that’s the beauty of our game. When you get competitors like that on the field - and like I said, we know what Latrell brings to a team, and he’s those players you love playing alongside - so I just needed to be that player for our team. And yeah, we gave each other a big hug after the game and I love the big fella, especially the things he’s doing outside of footy and in the community. But on the field, we compete.”

Gagai, who will join Brisbane next year, said he didn’t go out intending to target Mitchell.

“I don’t think it was an individual battle within myself personally,” he said. “I was just more thinking about what can I do to help the team out. And obviously, Latrell is a big part of their team … He’s a big-game player, and he’s a superstar of the game.

“But I just had to focus on my preparation throughout the week, get myself right to put myself in a position to do my job for the team, whether that’s in defence or attack.

“I’m always going to compete and I always look forward to the opportunity of coming up against players like that. They obviously always bring the best out of you because if you have a little micro slip, then they can punish you pretty quick. I’m just grateful that we come away with the win.”

Gagai has maintained an incredible level of performance during his 16-year NRL career. The 35-year-old said he took no heed from some critics’ calls for him to end it.

“I don’t really listen to what other people say, and I kind of know within myself my abilities and what I’m capable of,” he said.

“I guess I won’t let anyone retire me when I’m not ready. I still feel like I’m playing good footy. The body feels good. I still love the game, I still love competing.