DANNY Levi clearly intends to do his talking on the pitch when the Manly hooker takes on his former Newcastle Knights teammates for the first time at Brookvale Oval on Sunday.
Levi played 83 NRL games for Newcastle between 2015 and last season before negotiating a release in January, after the club's decision to sign Jayden Brailey from Cronulla on a three-year deal.
He slotted immediately into the dummy-half vacancy at Manly caused by the departure of Apisai Koroisau to Penrith and the indefinite suspension of Manase Fainu after an off-field incident that resulted in serious police charges.
Levi has been unavailable to speak to the media this week, but in the days after signing for the Sea Eagles he shed light on the circumstances that compelled him to leave the Knights.
"Not to be cocky but I've always thought I was better than a lot of hookers in the NRL but thought I was never given a fair chance to show it," he said at the time.
"This fresh start will give me a chance ... I always believed I was good enough. That was the main thing."
Levi and former coach Nathan Brown had a well-documented falling-out early in 2018 and it seems their relationship never recovered.
But the four-Test Kiwi international said he held no grudge against Brown's successor, Adam O'Brien, who assured him Newcastle would honour the final year of his contract but warned that Brailey would be the first-choice No.9.
Perhaps if Levi had opted to stay at Newcastle, he might well have been required, given that Brailey suffered a season-ending knee injury in round two.
Instead the 24-year-old has settled in quickly at Brookvale, starting in all seven games this season, while the Knights signed Brisbane veteran Andrew McCullough to replace Brailey.
Newcastle forward Aidan Guerra predicted Levi would have plenty of motivation on Sunday.
"He might play like he has a point to prove," Guerra said.
"He felt like he was moving onto a better opportunity, and he's been playing some good footy there.
"He's coming up against some of his best mates and we're also coming up against him, so I think it's going to be interesting to see.'
