BY DAN

The Sunday Telegraph is reporting that Danny Levi has been granted permission to negotiate with other clubs. This has now been confirmed by the Canberra Times.

Does Levi want out or has he been pushed? From the reporting it’s unclear who has instigated this. Levi has been given a lengthy opportunity with the Milk, including starting for most of this season, and being given an extension despite barely playing in his first season with the club (through no fault of his own). Coach Stuart has publicly praised his training, and his pathway to first grade has been unquestionably privileged over other players with a more proven performance in the top line. The club has clearly believed in him.

But this year they’ve evidently trusted him less and less. Defensively he’s been weak, and despite (or because of) Tom Starling’s many charms and faults, the Novacastrian has been preferred over Levi mostly because of that factor. Starling has gone from being the extra and sometimes unused player to playing the majority of minutes at the position. So perhaps the club has cooled on Levi.

Unverifiable rumours have swirled about Levi’s comfort with this but it’s not ridiculous to think that he’s frustrated and wants to explore his opportunities elsewhere. Levi wants to be the guy somewhere and sees a sparse hooker market (title of) across the league and wants in. Canberra’s previous love for him is dissipating. It’s easy to think he might be keen to look elsewhere. Either way it seems the latest fan civil war seems close to an end and no one should claim victory. That’s the thing with war, we all lose.

It does raise the question of how the Raiders are going to put together their hooker rotation for next year. Tom Starling is on contract, but Adrian Trevilyan and Zac Woolford are not. Even Hep Puru, who has played minutes at cup at hooker isn’t a guaranteed thing for next year. It seems the Owen Pattie hype train is leaving the station and we should all get on board.

But even if Pattie replaces Levi in the top 30 it still feels a light rotation. Pattie is a sometimes Cup player at the moment. To expect him to play major minutes in first grade next season seems optimistic at best. Zac Woolford has had opportunities to leave rebuffed by the club but it’s never felt like they were as committed to him as he was to the Milk. Trevilyan is currently only a supplemental deal and will leave the second anyone offers him anything more substantial. It’s a lot of questions and no answers.

It’s enough to make me question the likelihood of Levi leaving, or at least him finding a better opportunity elsewhere. I don’t see an obvious fit for Danny at another club so perhaps he’ll test the market and stay home. Given how much they stood behind him it seems surprising they’d jump off the train so readily. I also don’t see obvious experienced fits for the Milk outside of retaining what is already on the roster, and with the club seemingly out on most of them it’s an unusual situation. Pathless. What’ll they think of next.

But maybe here we are. I’m curious as to what the club does next. There’s not a lot on the open market. I doubt Canberra go into the 2025 season with only two rakes in the top 30, especially when they’d previously collected them like Sideshow Bob (that reference is now like 30 plus years old now). Even if the Levi era is over the Milk will still need to find another nine.

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