At just 19 years of age, Newcastle Knight Danny Levi is proud to have represented his country for a second time during the weekend’s Representative Round.
The skillful NYC hooker was a member of the competitive Junior Kiwis side that fell just two points short of a strong Junior Kangaroos outfit on the weekend.
“It was an awesome experience and I made a lot of new friends,” Levi said.
“It was a really good camp.”
Levi was first blooded on the international stage last year in the Junior Kiwis successful clash over the under 20s Australian team.
Since his 2014 selection the young talent believes he’s grown as a player and taken more of a leadership role within his team.
Yet, he wasn’t pinning hopes on a second call up.
“It was nerve racking at first to see if I would make the team the second time, but once I did I was happy to be back in there,” he said.
A highlight of the week’s camp was the game itself in which Levi says was particularly challenging due to the quality and experience of the opposition’s line up.
“During the game we were going up against a fairly stacked squad with them having about eight or nine first grade players,” he said.
“It was a pretty tight match the whole time.
“We got up about half way through the game and they ended up coming back and scoring a good try.
“It came down to just a kick conversion at the end.
“It was just a really tough effort from everyone who played and big ups to all the boys.”
The New Zealand born Knights, who started his junior football with the Randwick King Fishers, was incredibly proud to don the black and white jersey again.
“It’s a huge honour,” he said.
“I have heaps of people to thank for that, including all the coaching staff and people back home including my family.
“I wasn’t just representing my country, I was representing all of them as well,” he said.
As the NYC Knights build for their Round 9 match against the Manly Sea Eagles, Levi says he’s expecting a strong performance from himself.
“I’ll take out a lot of confidence coming back, but still need to still sharpen up a few things in my game,” he said.
“I need to work on a lot of leadership skills too, and that’s what I’ll take back.”
