Levi set for long stay at hooker

WELLINGTON: Not every young New Zealand rugby league player gets to be Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
Like Asofa-Solomona, Danny Levi is 21 and a former Wellington junior who made his NRL debut in 2015.
Unlike Asofa-Solomona, Levi has no minor premierships or NRL titles to his name. Only wooden spoons.
Asofa-Solomona and the Melbourne Storm finished both the 2016 and 2017 regular seasons atop the table. They went on to lose the 2016 grand final to Cronulla, before beating North Queensland 34-6 in this year’s decider.
Levi’s Newcastle Knights finished last this year. Same as they did the season before.
Melbourne are a phenomenon and as long as coach Craig Bellamy and captain Cameron Smith are around, then it appears they’ll remain title contenders.
Back-to-back wooden spoons wouldn’t immediately suggest the good times are on their way back to Newcastle. But, if nothing else, the last two seasons have revealed which Knights have the stomach for the fight and which don’t.
Levi is one who’s revealed himself to be a fighter — in the very best sense of the word — and the kind of player who can get the club competing with Melbourne and company again.
“We’re trying to build something at the Knights and it has been tough the last couple of years. It’s been really tough,” Levi said ahead of New Zealand’s world cup quarterfinal clash with Fiji at Westpac Stadium.
“Two years ago we were getting touched up and the game was over at halftime.
“We did a lot of improvement last year — it may not show it on the table — but a lot of games were closer and we’re a young squad and we’re building and we’re getting more and more experience.” – Stuff.co