AT the end of his 2017 rugby league campaign, Danny Levi was entitled to be feeling pretty good about himself.
The 21-year-old hooker had played in all 24 of Newcastle’s games that season to earn selection in New Zealand’s squad for the World Cup, during which he featured in four Tests.
As he headed into a well-deserved off-season break, most fans could have been forgiven for assuming Levi would be Newcastle’s first-choice dummy-half in 2018 and for many years to come, and likewise for the Kiwis.
New signing Slade Griffin, from Melbourne, was widely expected to fill the same sole for the Knights that he had at the Storm, playing off the bench as a back-up hooker or utility forward.
Other than his bit-part appearance in Melbourne’s grand final triumph against North Queensland, Griffin was largely an unknown quantity to the majority of Newcastle supporters.
In the five seasons since making his NRL debut, he had played in only 26 games – just five times in the starting side – largely because his career had been interrupted by three knee reconstructions.
But Knights coach Nathan Brown had clearly done his research.
On the strength of his pre-season training and fearless defence in Newcastle’s trial games, Griffin leapfrogged into Brown’s starting side for the round-one clash with Manly, and Levi started the year in NSW Cup.
It wasn’t until round five that Levi won a recall to the first-grade bench, and when he was dropped again two games later, he fronted Brown to ask for a release.
“Honestly, I was a bit pissed off about it [not being in the top grade],” Levi told the Newcastle Herald in July. “I can't help how I was feeling. I thought I had done enough to prove that I belonged there.”
His request was duly denied. Levi proceeded to play 17 games for Newcastle this year, starting in their last eight fixtures after the luckless Griffin suffered another season-ending injury, barely a week after he made his Test debut for the Kiwis against England.
Now Levi finds himself in a similar situation to last year.
He has been named in the Kiwi train-on squad to prepare for an October 13 Test against Australia, and given that Warriors veteran Issac Luke needs shoulder surgery, it appears either Levi or Melbourne rookie Brandon Smith will be packing down against the Kangaroos.
In other words, Levi could well finish the year as the incumbent Kiwi Test hooker.
But his somewhat-tenuous hold on Newcastle’s No.9 jersey has been highlighted by revelations that Brown met with Luke in New Zealand last week to gauge his interest in joining the Knights.
On face value, it would appear a shrewd move on Brown’s behalf, especially as Griffin might be sidelined for at least half of next season.
Whether those negotiations amount to anything remains to be seen, because it now appears Luke’s injury is a concern for Newcastle and they are baulking at offering the guaranteed two-year contract he is seeking.
But the mere fact Brown has approached Luke is likely to leave Levi with mixed emotions.
Levi has often described the 42-Test veteran as his favourite player, but it is hard to imagine Luke would be interested in coming to Newcastle to play reserve grade or off the bench.
Moreover, if the Knights sign Luke and Griffin makes a successful recovery from his surgery, at some point next year they will have three Kiwi Test hookers on their books, and someone will be the odd man out.
The crux of the matter seems to be whether or not Brown believes Levi can become Newcastle’s long-term No.1 hooker.
The Knights have invested considerable time and money in developing Levi since he arrived from Wellington as a teenager.
He debuted in the NRL in 2015, as a 19-year-old, and has now played in 66 NRL games.
The game’s best dummy-halves routinely play 80 minutes each week, yet only four times in Levi’s career has he been asked to put in a full shift.
Two of those stints were in round 18 and 21 this season.
How long before Levi is playing 80 minutes on a regular basis, and what does he need to improve to reach that level?
According to Brown earlier in the season: “It has been about getting the message through to him about work ethic and becoming a real team player.”
Brown even sought out Newcastle’s greatest-ever hooker, Danny Buderus, to provide some one-on-one mentoring for Levi.
“Everyone's got to work at something and he's got to work on … playing with people and getting people to follow him,” Buderus told the Newcastle Herald in July.
The bottom line is that Levi is 22 and, having served his apprenticeship during three wooden-spoon seasons, should be ready to realise his potential.
His best football is theoretically ahead of him, and if he can avoid injury, he could foreseeably be playing in the NRL for at least another decade.
Knights fans can only hope he does so in their colours, and that the challenge he now faces takes his game to an even higher level.
