Friday, 21 September 2018:
 | | COOPER CRONK of the Australian Kangaroos at a training session in Melbourne, Australia | |
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Cooper Cronk and James Tedesco weren't the only ones paid to deliver in the big games.
While the marquee pair take the spotlight this week for their role in the Sydney Roosters' chase for an elusive NRL title, South Sydney's own prize signing has garnered little fanfare.
Dane Gagai is the only Rabbitohs player set to take on the Roosters in Saturday's NRL preliminary final that wasn't in their roster last season.
But even though he arrived without the burden of premiership expectation as his Roosters counterparts, Gagai had the same lofty goals.
"Every team goes into the season with the belief that they're going to play in the finals. If you don't have that mindset, then you don't deserve to wear a jersey," Gagai tells AAP.
It's been five years since Gagai last played finals football, starring in a stacked Newcastle side coached by Wayne Bennett that agonisingly fell one game short of the decider.
Ironically, they were knocked out by the Roosters on their way to their last premiership.
"It's good to be back," he says.
Back then Gagai was a starry-eyed young buck.
This time, he's a 27-year-old Kangaroos and Queensland State of Origin veteran in a youthful backline, minus captain and centre-partner Greg Inglis.
And after almost a year with his new club, he believes the next generation of Rabbitohs have more of a competitive edge than the young brigade he was tasked with leading at the Knights.
Looking back, he still harbours hope that former teammates will reach the same highs - such as an expected Allianz Stadium sellout - he's about to step into.
"The footy style we're playing here is at a higher level," he says.
"That's no disrespect to Newcastle, because we had a very young side. A lot of those guys hadn't really experienced what it felt like to win.
"That's something that I definitely wanted to change there. I still genuinely want those boys to experience that feeling, because I've been fortunate enough through my career to experience it.
"For me now, I'm in a position where we can actually have a red-hot crack."
It's a chance few people expected of the Rabbitohs in the pre-season, however Gagai believes the key to their turnaround has been their balance to their line-up.
"I really like the make-up of the team, with the senior players and then the youth," he says.
"One thing I've loved about these young players that I'm playing alongside, is their competitiveness. They're not just happy being here, but they genuinely want to win.
"It makes you not want to let them down just that little bit more."
