BY DAN

Over the weekend the Canberra Times reported that the Raiders would be extending Danny Levi’s time in green until the end of 2025.

This was a surprise to me. Their had been a fair bit of noise and occasional reporting that had suggested that Levi was heading back to the Super League. It seems this had just been leverage to get a longer deal in Canberra. I guess if you want to ‘Raider Raise’ the Raiders you need to leverage England. How fancy. When it was initially rumoured I assumed Levi had simply picked up his option for 2024. One day i’ll be right about something (and then I’ll strut)

It means that Canberra currently have three hookers on the books for 2024 (him, Zac Woolford and Tom Starling), and a fourth without a contract for 2024 as far as we can tell (Adrian Trevilyan). Recently we had expressed surprise at Tom Starling’s extension talks (purportedly to end 2025), and the fact it would make him the longest tenured hooker at the club. When considered in the context of his static development it made for a puzzling prioritisation.

This extension is similarly confounding. Levi joined the club in what seemed like a depth signing, ‘trained the house down’, broke his jaw, came back as a depth player, broke his jaw again, and somehow turned that in an extra year on his deal. It’s impressive work if you can get it. In between all we’ve seen is a glimpse into the kind of player he is, and it’s duplicative of what is offered by Starling, both in style and ceiling. Levi *may* be a much improved footy player from the one that first left for Super League, but as yet there hasn’t really been a chance to show it. Canberra are essentially taking the good will he bought from Coach Stuart through hard work in the off-season and taking it as rote that it will turn into productivity on the field.

One should probably trust Sticky’s assessment more than the view from the couch. Levi is a hard worker in defence, and offers much of the running ability of Starling with what may be better passing (we say *may* because, well, the tape is limited). He’s still relatively young (26) and for all we know a demon on the training park (which sounds like a euphemism but wasn’t intended to be).

But it’s hard not to think if he has a blind spot at this position and makes one wonder as to what the club’s plan is with the position. As we said they have three hookers on the books for next season. It seems obvious to most outside observers that Zac Woolford is the highest performing player they’ve had at the position over the last two seasons. Tom Starling and Danny Levi both seem more suited to complimentary bench or depth roles. Yet these are the two with the most investment by the club.

In addition to this the highest ceiling in terms of talent the Raiders have at the position is, from what we can tell, uncontracted. Adrian Trevilyan has only just returned to the field over the last fortnight but from all reports have proven that our hopes and dreams for him are not ill-founded. Signing Levi and Starling for such long extensions doesn’t mean they can’t keep Trevilyan, but it does mean the Raiders will have to invest significantly in the position (in terms of proporition of the roster) and will have little flexiblity to adapt from that in the medium term.

By locking up both Starling and Levi over the medium term they limit their flexibility. If that reporting holds then Canberra are forced into a difficult position. Either carry four hookers over the medium term, dedicating more roster spots to this team than other teams do, and doing so by ensuring duplication of skills and playing styles that are limited in their outouts, or let either Zac Woolford enter the open market, or Adrian Trevilyan leave. Given one of these is their highest performing player at the position, and the other is the the player with most potential, and who’s future aligns almost too perfectly with a rare crop of talent in the Milk’s pipeline (the Milkline?), I hate the latter option. But that’s where we get to so often as Raiders fans – choosing the least worst option because more appropriate versions seem like a pipe-dream.

It’s quite a state when the best situation is do something that other teams wouldn’t. In a sense I don’t hate investing plenty in the number nine position. It’s arguably the most important on the field. Your nine touches the ball more than anyone, and good ruck play opens up the field for both the Raiders quality middles, but also provides critical time and space for their less perfect shifting movements to take place. Canberra need players at the position that offer both certainty and possibility, and if that takes four spots, then it’s better than not having it. They’ve needed all four this season so in a sense it’s an understandable approach. Starling and Levi are limited, but perhaps they are the certainty and Woolford and Trevilyan are the possibility. It’s less the positions than the people filling them, and the prioritisation of them over what appear (to us at least, clearly not the club) to be important options.

But right now we’re extrapolating our preferred outcome with little or no knowledge that’s what will take place. We hope Zac will remain the primary player in the near future. We hope that Trevilyan will be recognised by the club for the talent he has. We assume the club knows they have more than what we’ve seen in Levi.

But we don’t know. I hope for the Raiders’ and Levi’s sake, it works out.

Sorry for the typos but I wrote this in the gate at Sydney airport. Do us a solid and like our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter (or Threads!) or share this on social media. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.