We remember Leo Barry’s mark in the dying seconds of the Grand Final and the controversy surrounding Barry Hall’s behind-the-play incident in the preliminary final where the big forward was found guilty of striking but escaped penalty.
But none of it would have eventuated had Davis not cut a swathe through Geelong’s defence in a pulsating final term at the SCG in week two of the finals.
Bittersweet memories for Geelong and Sydney fans will come flooding back in this round as the Cats take on the Swans. It will be the first time the teams have met at the SCG since that famous, or infamous, night.
“I’d say it was a famous night,” Davis said this week.
“It was probably infamous for the Geelong people, but it brings back a lot of great memories for myself and the club.”
Davis produced the finest hour, or half-hour, of his 168-game career that started at Collingwood and finished back in Sydney, where he was born and bred.
The Swans trailed by 17 points at three-quarter time, having managed a wayward 3.12 and the Cats were applying full-ground pressure in the wet conditions, caused by the automatic sprinklers being turned on earlier in the day.
The Cats kicked the first goal of the last term before Davis weaved his magic.
His right-foot snap made the difference 16 points with 13 minutes to go; a strong mark reduced the margin to nine points with 10 minutes remaining before another snap brought Sydney to within three points in time-on.
With less than a minute on the clock, ruckman Jason Ball found Davis with a perfect hit-out and the clever forward drilled his fourth goal and the match-winner.
“The set shot was the most straightforward of the lot, but any of the other three could have easily missed and changed the result of the game,” Davis said.
These days Davis is helping the next generation of potential Sydney players, working with his old coach Paul Roos at the Swans Academy.
He is also up at the crack of dawn most days working for the stables of leading Sydney trainer John Thompson, where his partner Anna Watson, mother of their two-year-old daughter Jordan, rides track work.
“It’s hectic juggling it all, but we virtually have a live-in nanny thanks to my mum (Judy), who minds Jordan when we get up at 3am,” he said.
“It’s amazing, I’d never get up at 3am for footy training, but getting to the track at that time is such a buzz.”
This article first appeared in the round four edition of the AFL record
