IT WAS the sort of day made for a funeral. Freezing cold, a biting wind and rain pelting down at all angles.

But it didn't dampen anyone's spirits and Bob Davis would have been proud that, despite the elements, it was standing room only at his farewell.

That was the scene at St Mary's Basilica in the heart of Geelong earlier today as football greats, football lovers, friends, foes and, most importantly, family, gathered to pay their respects to the former Geelong premiership star, coach and media personality who died last week.

Davis would have been pleased that Mark Thompson, the man who finally claimed his title as Geelong’s only living premiership coach in 2007, sat and chatted with Gary Ablett jnr.

Later in the service, mourners were told that in the spirit of Davis, people should be "nice to each other". Thompson, now an assistant coach at Essendon after a messy departure from Geelong, and Ablett, now the Gold Coast Suns' captain, appeared to heed that advice. They looked anything but two men who were supposedly at loggerheads last year.

Lou Richards, Davis' old adversary from League Teams and World of Sport, was there and given the recognition he deserves. Sadly, with Davis and Jack Dyer no longer with us, Richards is the last of the trio commonly referred to as "the three wise monkeys".

Members of the Geelong cheer squad rubbed shoulders with past and current day stars as Davis' son Guy, former club president Frank Costa, Geelong media identity Ian Cover and Victorian Premier Ted Ballieau delivered eulogies.

Everything you have read about Davis over the past week was told, including what Cover described as "Bobby’s gold medal moment".

As Davis was giving a not-so-kind review of a Brisbane Bears' game on World of Sport in the late 1980s, he was urged by panel members to "name names".

Using the Football Record, he went through Brisbane’s list of names in numerical order, calling some players "too small" and "too fat" and, upon reaching the name of former Bear Richard Champion, Davis uttered just three words: "In name only".

It drew the biggest laugh of the service and Bobby would have loved it.