The 23-year-old fly-half was tipped for future international honours when he burst onto the scene at Newport Gwent Dragons five year’s ago.
But the former Wales Under-20s star has found difficulty in fulfilling his potential Rodney Parade and switched the Welsh capital this summer.
Now he is determined to rediscover his form at the Blues and use it as a launch pad for international honours.
“I went a bit stale at the Dragons,” said Tovey.
“I wasn’t really pushed out of my comfort zone but this is a fresh start and I have had to come here and work hard.
“I think that I suffered a lack of form but we weren’t playing well as a team either and you could see that with all of the boys’ performances.
“But this is a new era for me and if we can win a lot of games then hopefully it can push me on to international honours.
“I want a consistent season and to produce the performances that I was for the Dragons 18 months ago.”
Following his decision to move on, the Dragons left Tovey out in the cold and opted to blood youngsters.
The selection policy saw the Dragons use Lewis Robling and Steffan Jones in the second half of the season, while Tovey was left just nine-points short of Ceri Sweeney’s point scoring record.
“I had meetings with Darren (Edwards, head coach) throughout the second half of the season and he told me what they
“That was fair enough, they were trying to bring Lewis and Steffan through and they’ve done that because they haven’t signed another 10. It was frustrating but that’s life, you get on with it and I am here now.
“It is hard when you see the boys losing silly games, particularly ones at the end of the season that we should have won.
“You wonder whether you could have made a difference but I totally understand what the coaches were doing.”
Tovey will get an early opportunity to remind the Dragons what they are missing, as the Blues travel to Newport in round three of the RaboDirect PRO12.
He expects to be on the receiving end of some stick from the Rodney Parade faithful but is determined to shine.
“It’s one of the biggest games of the season for me and I look forward to seeing all my mates again,” added Tovey.
“I could hear what the crowd were like at Cardiff Blues games when I was with the Dragons and they give a hell of a lot of stick to the opposition.
“I’ll just have to try and take it in my stride and deal with it.”
