Knights star Dane Gagai yet to hear from Queensland coach Billy Slater but remains as keen as ever to play State of Origin

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Gagai revealed he was yet to hear from Maroons coach Billy Slater amid reports he may not be retained for the series opener in Adelaide on May 31.

The 32-year-old acknowledged the speculation but said all he could do was play his best football at club level.

"No phone call yet," Gagai said when asked if Slater had been in touch.

"If the call comes, I'll be grateful for it. Until then, I'm just focusing on Newcastle."

A mainstay of Queensland's side since his debut in the third game of the 2015 series, Gagai is reportedly under pressure to hold his place in the team from Dolphins gun Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.

A veteran of 22 Origins and 255 NRL appearances, he said his desire to be part of the game's showpiece interstate series remained strong.

"It's what you dream of as a kid and I've been fortunate enough to do it a number of times," he said.

"Obviously there's a lot of speculation but I don't really focus on things that are happening outside of here.

"The only thing I can do is go out and put in performances for my teammates and play well for Newcastle.

"Anything that comes off the back of that, it's a bonus.

"I love playing for Queensland, I love watching Queensland, I love everything about Queensland.

"But like I said, that's still a couple of weeks away so my focus is backing up what we did on the weekend and getting another win."

Gagai's former Indigenous All Stars teammate and Canberra half Jack Wighton recently called time on his NSW Origin career, aged just 30, but the Maroons star is yet to consider such a move.

"Jack obviously made a decision around him and his family about what was best for him, but I guess if I ever started having thoughts of stepping away then I guess that would be the time to step away," Gagai said.

The five-time series winner did his chances no harm scoring a try in Newcastle's 46-26 win over the Gold Coast, but it was just his second four-pointer this season.

He believes he is playing better football, particularly defensively, for the Knights than this time last year when he went on to play all three Origins and help Queensland to a 2-1 series victory.

Gagai missed, on average, 4.4 tackles a game last season, the seventh most in the NRL. But this has fallen to just 3.0 this season, which doesn't even rank him in the top-50 players for most missed tackles per game.

Asked about his form this year, he said he had benefited from a rejuvenated approach to defence training.

"We've been doing a lot more specific stuff as edges, rather than just the basic, generic [drills] going into the wrestle room," he said.

"We're doing more stuff on the field where it is more specific to the position we play.

"I guess in the middle, you've got a lot of up and down carries, whereas on the edges you've got to make your one on ones with some pretty athletic outside-backs.

"So we're doing a lot more specific stuff ... but not only that, a few of the players we've got and the connections we've built over this pre-season, and the season working together, has really helped me ... being able to trust the guys inside and outside of you. It makes it a lot easier to worry about making my own tackles."

After a 43-12 loss to the Eels before a bye last week, Gagai said it was pleasing to bounce back with a victory over the Titans on Sunday.

But he said the 46-26 win, the most points Newcastle had scored since 2013, would count for little if they don't back it up with a strong performance against Cronulla in Coffs Harbour on Saturday during Indigenous Round.

"We've got another bye in a few weeks and we want to go into that with a few wins under our belt," he said.

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