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St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennett declared the return of Mark Gasnier to be a victory for the NRL and says he’s confident the former Test and Origin star will recapture his brilliant best despite 18 months in French rugby.
After losing him in 2008 when third-party deals fell through, the Dragons on Monday announced Gasnier would rejoin them on a new four and a half year deal.
Bennett said the nephew of immortal Reg couldn’t have done anything to stop the Dragons meek exit from last year’s finals had he been on board then, but said he has the x-factor to set alight the team’s 2010 crusade.
“He just brings a class that most players wish they had a little bit of,” said Bennett, who cheekily promised Gasnier he wouldn’t play him at five-eighth or fullback — options which failed for the Dragons in the past.
“I think we all saw enough of him, none of us forgot how he used to play and I’m sure he’ll have the opportunity to display that again in the near future.
“You’ve just got to look at the others who have all come back.
“Lote (Tuqiri) played here (Kogarah) on Friday night against us and I thought he was absolutely outstanding.
“We all know what Wendell (Sailor) did and they were out of league a lot longer than what Mark was.
“I’ve got no doubt about that … I’m quite confident his skill level will not have diminished.”
While plenty of players have left rugby league to chase bigger dollars, Bennett said Gasnier’s return showed the true worth of the NRL.
” I think it says a lot about the product and about the people that are in it,” Bennett said.
“You’ve got Lote back, you’ve had Wendell come back, Matty Rogers come back, Timana Tahu has come back so it says a lot about what rugby league has done for them about what it gives to them.
“When they’ve done their time in another code I think what Mark’s alluding to, is the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and fortunately they’re all young enough men to be able to come back.
“I’ve got to say rugby league’s been great the way we’ve welcomed them back and I think that shows the quality of the people that are in our game as well.
“Their grounding is in rugby league, Mark played all his football in rugby league and the game attracts you, the game gets you.”
Dragons CEO Peter Doust revealed the process in getting Gasnier’s deal finalised was made difficult because of its mid-season timing.
“The real drama for us in the complexity was this year because it came to us late in the piece and that’s not easy to deal with,” Doust said.
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July 3rd 2010 @ 7:41am
Crosscoder said | July 3rd 2010 @ 7:41am | Report comment
Safe option! or the option that he wants deep down.It is what he was brought up on,it is what he loves,it is the option in which he can test himself regularly with ball in hand,with nowhere to hide.He also wants to be with family and friends.
If playing rugby league is somehow a soft option after leaving the code a bit upset and coming back,then I hate to see what a hard option is all about.Then as i stated and he has no doubt found out,rl as a code is a forgiving one.
He no doubt received an offer from the Rebels and would have been utilised in promotion work.
The safe option would have been to slip away to Melbourne and play union,with anonimity and earning the equivalent of what he will be earning at St George,instead of facing the Sydney goldfish bowl of the media pyrannas.