A skinny kid simply known as 'John' back then, Newman was spotted by Davis playing school football for Geelong Grammar and was invited to develop his ruck skills under the great Polly Farmer.
"Bob had the presence of mind to come out to Geelong Grammar in 1963 and asked if I wanted to have a crack at trying to play for Geelong ... the rest, as they say, is history, so much so that we both ended up in the Team of the Century for that great club," Newman said.
Newman, who made his senior debut for the Cats in 1964, was still coming to grips with the loss of his former mentor and lifelong friend.
"Bob has helped make me what I am today. He was just a wonderful human being," the former Geelong 300-game star said.
The two formed a close player-coach bond and Davis gave Newman the nickname 'Sam', inspired by the bandleader Sam Spear, who appeared on the The Jackie Gleason Show.
They shared many a laugh and Newman acknowledged that Davis, together with Jack Dyer and Lou Richards, were the trailblazers for today's football variety shows, such as The Footy Show.
"They set the template for a tongue-in-cheek and irreverent look at the game when they were on League Teams," Newman said.
"You'd look at these three blokes talking absolute nonsense about the teams one minute and the next they were giving out recipes. It was ahead of its time."
But Newman said despite Davis' image as a lovable larrikin, he was adamant the game should be played in the right spirit.
"The greatest accolade I could give Bob is that he was stickler for the spirit of the game. He hated any illegal tactics," Newman said.
"He coached hard, but fairly, and I think he imparted that on most of the people who played under him.
"He got people to play for him at that club not in spite of him.
"He loved the game and he loved Geelong. He was a modest man and he never tried to be anyone other than himself."
