Gad (Semu) Tata. In early February 2024 Gad Tata was named in the final Tweed Heads Seagulls U17 Cyril Connell (CC) Cup squad.

Gad Tata arrives on the Gold Coast from the Bay of Plenty region with Gad Tata attending Katikati College.

Prior to his arrival on the Gold Coast the young centre had an impressive representative resume in New Zealand including playing for the Coastline region at the 2023 New Zealand Rugby League National Youth Championships and in 2022 playing for the 2022 Kotahitangu U15 Representative side.
One of the reasons Gad Tata is so successful on a football field is his exceptional speed and elusiveness, he is the fastest player I have ever seen on a field and when you add in his elusiveness, he is a nightmare for opposing defences. In relation to his elusiveness the thing that makes it play even better is his ability to change direction with no loss of speed, this enables him to use the sideline exceptionally well with an in and away, all three of his first half tries against Ipswich in Round Thirteen last weekend are a testament to this skill.
When the opposing defender’s momentum slows just for a split second, Gad Tata is away down the sideline and will not get caught and also regularly also beats the fullback who no matter how fast they are cannot recover the ground.
Gad Tata is also adept at making ground out of dummy half. Once he has picked the ball up he simply explodes out of there and targets a gap between opposing forwards and looks to accelerate through it. If the defenders look to jersey grab or make an arm tackle, Gad Tata simply bursts through it and into the space behind the ruck.
Gad Tata is not a big player at all and the obvious question is whether he is strong enough to handle the defensive side of rugby league at the higher levels, I would argue that the answer is absolutely yes. In defence against the bigger outside backs running around, Gad Tata looks to cut down the time that they have to gain momentum thus eliminating the size differential as a defensive aspect to take into consideration.
At the opposite end of the spectrum when opposing a quick winger, Gad Tata will show them the side line and use his speed advantage to force the opponent towards the touch line, with their only real option to slow and try to come back inside towards Gad Tata and the cover defence.
From a courage stand point Gad Tata also passes any objective measurement that can be considered when evaluating this criterion. He will stand his ground under the high ball and is one of the first players to take a run out of dummy half when the ball needs to be brought out of his side’s own end.
Gad Tata also has the speed to show his opponent the sideline and cut him down and has the recovery speed to turn and chase if a break is made either on his side of the field or for that matter the other side.

Gad Tata started the 2024 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls U17 CC Cup squad before Gad Tata will move onto club and school boy rugby league in Queensland.

In New Zealand, outside a handful of matches at lock Gad Tata played exclusively in the centres and that is where I am of the opinion where Gad Tata’s future lies.

Gad Tata is not a giant of a centre but is tall and has speed to burn and well as outstanding balance and body control thus a player comparison to Titans winger Lofi Khan-Pereira is not unreasonable at all.