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Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Daniel Levi[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1995-12-05)5 December 1995 (age 29) Wellington, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 177 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 90 kg (14 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Hooker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[2] As of 7 September 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Daniel Levi (born 5 December 1995) is a professionalrugby league footballer who plays as ahooker for theCanberra Raiders in theNational Rugby League (NRL). He has played forNew Zealand,New Zealand Māori andSamoa at international level.
He previously played for theNewcastle Knights,Brisbane Broncos and theManly Warringah Sea Eagles in the NRL, and theHuddersfield Giants in theSuper League.
Levi was born inWellington, New Zealand, and is ofMāori andSamoan descent.[3]
He played his junior rugby league for theRandwick Kingfishers. He then moved to Australia and played for theGlenmore Park Brumbies,[4] before being signed by theNewcastle Knights.
Midway through the 2013 season, Levi signed with the Newcastle Knights on a2+1⁄2-year contract effective immediately.[5] From 2013 to 2015, he played for the Knights'NYC team,[6][7] captaining the side in 2014 as an 18-year-old and also in 2015.[8][9] On 2 September 2014, he was named on the interchange bench in the 2014 NYC Team of the Year.[10] On 24 September 2014, he extended his contract with the Knights to the end of 2017.[5] On 18 October 2014, he played for theJunior Kiwis against theJunior Kangaroos.[11]
Levi played for the Knights in the pre-seasonAuckland Nines.[12]
On 2 May, he again played for the Junior Kiwis, coming off the interchange bench in the Kiwis' 22-20 loss to the Junior Kangaroos.[1][13][14]
In Round 15 of theseason, he made his first-grade debut for the Knights against theCronulla-Sutherland Sharks, playing off the interchange bench in the Knights' 30-28 loss atHunter Stadium.[15][16][17] In Round 16 against theBrisbane Broncos, he scored his first NRL career try in the Knights' 44-22 loss atSuncorp Stadium.[18] On 27 August, he extended his contract with the Knights to the end of 2018.[19][20]
Levi played at hooker in the Knights'New South Wales Cup Grand Final win over theWyong Roos,[21][22] and the following week in theNRL State Championship Final, a 12-26 loss against theIpswich Jets.[23] He finished off his debut year in the NRL having played in 7 matches and scoring 2 tries for the Knights as the club finished last.[24] He was named on the interchange bench in the 2015NYC Team of the Year for a second year in a row.[25]
In February, Levi played for the Knights in the2016 NRL Auckland Nines.[26] In May, he was named as 19th man forNew Zealand during the2016 Anzac Test.[27][28] He finished the season having played in 18 matches as the club finished last on the table. Out of 18 matches Levi played in, 17 of them ended in defeat. The other match was a 24-24 draw with theCanberra Raiders in round 3 of the competition.[29][30]
In April, Levi extended his Newcastle contract from the end of 2018 until the end of 2020.[31]
Levi played a total of 24 games for Newcastle in the2017 NRL season as the club finished last for a third straight year.[32]
Levi played 17 games for Newcastle in the2018 NRL season as the club improved upon the earlier three years by finishing 11th on the table.[33]
Levi played 17 games in the2019 NRL season for Newcastle as the club finished 11th on the table for a second consecutive year.[34]
On 22 January, Levi was released by Newcastle and signed a one-year contract to join theManly Warringah Sea Eagles for the2020 NRL season.[35]
On 26 February, Levi spoke to the media about his departure from Newcastle and his rocky relationship with the club's former head coaching Nathan Brown saying “It was hard, it was a bit of a rollercoaster. I thought there were things that were unfair, You hear a lot of stories where coaches that just don’t like you, no matter what you do. You could be in his bad books and that’s it. I think I might have been in a situation like that. I'm just happy to be out of it. I never have anything towards the club or the team, some of my best friends are in that team".[36]
In round 10 against Parramatta, Levi scored his first try for Manly-Warringah as they won the match 22-18 atBrookvale Oval.[37]
In September, Levi was informed by Manly-Warringah that his services would not be required for the 2021 season.[38]
On 4 February 2021 it was reported that Levi would join theNorths Devils in theQueensland Cup for the 2021 season.[39]
On 20 April, Levi signed with theBrisbane Broncos for the remainder of the season, later that week, Levi made his club debut in round 7 againstParramatta where Brisbane lost 46-6 atTIO Stadium in Darwin.[40]On 29 September, Levi signed a two-year deal to join English sideHuddersfield.[41]
On 28 May, Levi played for Huddersfield in their2022 Challenge Cup Final loss toWigan.[42]
In October Levi was named in theSamoa squad for the2021 Rugby League World Cup.[43]
On 8 January, Levi signed a two-year deal to joinCanberra ahead of the2023 NRL season.[44]In round 3 of the2023 NRL season, Levi suffered a broken jaw during Canberra's 24-20 victory over Cronulla and was ruled out for an indefinite period. It was reported that trainers attempted to search for Levi's missing teeth during and after the game.[45]Levi was limited to only four matches with Canberra in the2023 NRL season as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals.[46]
Levi played 23 matches for Canberra in the2024 NRL season as the club finished 9th on the table.[47]
| Year | Team | Games | Tries | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 |  Newcastle Knights | 7 | 2 | 8 |
| 2016 | 18 | |||
| 2017 | 24 | 3 | 12 | |
| 2018 | 17 | |||
| 2019 | 17 | |||
| 2020 |  Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 20 | 2 | 8 |
| 2021 |  Brisbane Broncos | 9 | ||
| 2022 |  Huddersfield Giants | 20 | 4 | 16 |
| 2023 |  Canberra Raiders | 4 | ||
| 2024 | 23 | 6 | 24 | |
| 2025 | ||||
| Totals | 169 | 17 | 68 |
