Newcastle Knight Danny Levi is soaking up the experience of playing NRL football.
The confident 19-year-old believes facing up against some of the NRL’s biggest names is the best way to learn more about the game and become a better player.
“I’m happy to be playing NRL and as long as I’m playing against high quality players, it’s going to help me to better my game,” Levi said.
“To play against the world’s best players, and the best players in my position, it’s a big achievement for me.
“It’s a dream come true, I love every minute I’m up here.
“I hope to stay up here and get as much time as a I can.”
Levi’s excitement and enthusiasm shows each time he takes the field. He played the back end of the second half on Sunday as the team began to revive its performance against the Sydney Roosters.
“I just thought when I came on to just try and bring as much energy as I could,” he said.
“I got a lot of help from a lot of the senior players and they talked me through the game.
“I just tried to put my best foot forward and tried to do what I can to help them.
He was also inspired by the special efforts shown from his teammates that played a part in lifting the team.
“We showed late in the second half that we can come from behind and put on a good performance, it’s just being able to do that the whole game,” he said reflecting on the loss.
“We do have really good weeks and are really pumped up before the game.
“I guess it’s just a lack of concentration that hurts us a lot.
“It’s something we need to keep going back to working on and something we need to do the full 80 minutes.”
Showing maturity beyond his years, Levi’s greatest motivation to perform well is to gain a positive result for players departing the Club at season’s end.
“There’s a lot of guys leaving the Club and retiring so it’s something we don’t want them to finish on,” he said.
“Kurt (Gidley) is a legend around the Club, so me personally, it’s something I don’t want him to leave on.
“This week is a really big game for us so hopefully we can get a win."
After the team’s review of the match on Sunday, Levi said interim coach Danny Buderus urged players to move past Sunday’s disappointing defeat.
“He wanted us to take as many positives out of the game as we could,” he admitted.
“He wants all our energy to go into this game as it’s a really big game for us.”
The Knights take on the Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Stadium this Saturday afternoon.
