His arrival was only confirmed by the club this week, but the newest member of the Canberra Raiders has already declared his intent to fight for a starting role, claiming he didn't come all the way back to Australia just to play NSW Cup.
Danny Levi is the latest recruit to Ricky Stuart's squad, but the talented dummy-half knows there are no guarantees as he fights for the No.9 jersey with the likes of Tom Starling and Zac Woolford.
โMy goal was always to get back in the NRL,โ Levi told the Canberra Times.
โI was supposed to be (in England) for two years and I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to come back. I really wanted to get back in the NRL and compete at the best level again.
โI knew the Raiders were a very prestigious club, with a lot of really great history.โ
Though Starling, who previously played with Levi in Newcastle, is currently defending his name in court, coach Ricky Stuart has already tipped him for a big year.
Stuart will also be happy with the development of Woolford, who played 17 games in the dummy-half role last year after making his NRL debut against Cronulla in Round 10.
While he knows the battles that lay ahead, Levi is happy to spend his first weeks in the capital getting amongst the team and culture.
โRicky's main focus is for me to get settled and find my lungs,โ Levi said.
โWe'll talk about (goals for the year) a bit later, but at the moment I'm just getting amongst the boys.โ
Though questions remain about the rotation in such a pivotal role on the field, Levi believes his stint in the Super League has brought him back to Australia as a more complete player, which will only help as he stakes his claim.
โI'm more mature (now),โ Levi said.
โWhen I was over there I got to play 80 minutes week-in, week-out โ so that'll definitely help me out in the long run.
โThe game has slowed down a lot for me.โ
