The Phil Davis effect

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WillieNillie

All Australian
Mar 31, 2018
866
2,052
AFL Club
West Coast
I think on the face of everything when added together, he is the best recruit I have ever seen in the AFL for another club He is the best captain in the league. His attitude is refreshing. He is great in the media and they are a club that needs it. He is someone who in the role as captain, simply has it all. He is a very very good footballer when fit and overall he has defined the club culture which has seen it in recent years keep some of its very best players

He is the reason GWS is not a Gold Coast, he is the reason they are playing in next weeks Grand Final and in 60 years time when he is 80 years old and if GWS is still around he will be known as the greatest GWS player of all time and someone who truly defined what the club is to people

If he doesnt play next week and they win, he should still be the one on stage to lift the trophy. He has defined the club and turned it into what it is today. The impact 1 man can have on a club truly is amazing when you look at his journey
 
I think on the face of everything when added together, he is the best recruit I have ever seen in the AFL for another club He is the best captain in the league. His attitude is refreshing. He is great in the media and they are a club that needs it. He is someone who in the role as captain, simply has it all. He is a very very good footballer when fit and overall he has defined the club culture which has seen it in recent years keep some of its very best players

He is the reason GWS is not a Gold Coast, he is the reason they are playing in next weeks Grand Final and in 60 years time when he is 80 years old and if GWS is still around he will be known as the greatest GWS player of all time and someone who truly defined what the club is to people

If he doesnt play next week and they win, he should still be the one on stage to lift the trophy. He has defined the club and turned it into what it is today. The impact 1 man can have on a club truly is amazing when you look at his journey

Massive stretch. He was 21 when he arrived. GWS and GC had similar numbers of young kids (of which Davis was essentially one) but the difference is GWS also chose character, leadership and experience in the likes of Sheedy, Choco Williams, Brogan, Cornes, Power and McDonald.
 

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I think on the face of everything when added together, he is the best recruit I have ever seen in the AFL for another club He is the best captain in the league. His attitude is refreshing. He is great in the media and they are a club that needs it. He is someone who in the role as captain, simply has it all. He is a very very good footballer when fit and overall he has defined the club culture which has seen it in recent years keep some of its very best players

He is the reason GWS is not a Gold Coast, he is the reason they are playing in next weeks Grand Final and in 60 years time when he is 80 years old and if GWS is still around he will be known as the greatest GWS player of all time and someone who truly defined what the club is to people

If he doesnt play next week and they win, he should still be the one on stage to lift the trophy. He has defined the club and turned it into what it is today. The impact 1 man can have on a club truly is amazing when you look at his journey
I love Phil seems a great bloke. Probably hangs out with Nick Riewoldt in his free time and they probably have heaps of intellectual and emotionally intelligent conversation. Those two are equal as far as guys who open their mouths in the media.
 
Showed class beyond his years in his departing press conference while Phil Harper threw him under the bus and fixated on the financial burden of retaining him.

Looked insane at the time, but he made a great decision to get out and help to grow a new team, and he’s now been validated many times over.
 
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I think on the face of everything when added together, he is the best recruit I have ever seen in the AFL for another club He is the best captain in the league. His attitude is refreshing. He is great in the media and they are a club that needs it. He is someone who in the role as captain, simply has it all. He is a very very good footballer when fit and overall he has defined the club culture which has seen it in recent years keep some of its very best players

He is the reason GWS is not a Gold Coast, he is the reason they are playing in next weeks Grand Final and in 60 years time when he is 80 years old and if GWS is still around he will be known as the greatest GWS player of all time and someone who truly defined what the club is to people

If he doesnt play next week and they win, he should still be the one on stage to lift the trophy. He has defined the club and turned it into what it is today. The impact 1 man can have on a club truly is amazing when you look at his journey

Way to exaggerate a single players contribution....

An absolute constellation of other reasons why "GWS arent a Gold Coast"... Best Captain in the league? pull the other one.

He is a very, very good player and is a good leader for that footy club but enough of the hyperbole.
 
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I think on the face of everything when added together, he is the best recruit I have ever seen in the AFL for another club He is the best captain in the league. His attitude is refreshing. He is great in the media and they are a club that needs it. He is someone who in the role as captain, simply has it all. He is a very very good footballer when fit and overall he has defined the club culture which has seen it in recent years keep some of its very best players

He is the reason GWS is not a Gold Coast, he is the reason they are playing in next weeks Grand Final and in 60 years time when he is 80 years old and if GWS is still around he will be known as the greatest GWS player of all time and someone who truly defined what the club is to people

If he doesnt play next week and they win, he should still be the one on stage to lift the trophy. He has defined the club and turned it into what it is today. The impact 1 man can have on a club truly is amazing when you look at his journey

Not because gws got twice as many very high draft picks?
 
I couldn't believe he only had 4 disposals when he was being interviewed after the game. Felt like he had a hell of a lot more of it.
 

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Geez, I never realised being so media-friendly and well-spoken could have such far-reaching effects. I agree with 50% of what the OP posted, but don't go overboard, for christ's sake.

Davis has been a great recruit. Good player... good choice for captain... mature and level-headed.

I think all of the Giants deserve credit, from the top down.

Their defence has been sensational in this finals series. It was an amazing last quarter effort in Brisbane and again yesterday at the MCG. In both games, it looked like they might crumble under the intense pressure and repeat forward entries, but they somehow held out their opponents and saved the game.

Their backmen deserve a lot of credit: Davis, Haynes (robbed of All Australian selection!), Taylor, Shaw, Corr, Tomlinson and Keefe.
But let's not overlook the solid defence from their midfielders: Kelly, Taranto, Hopper, De Boer and Williams

People mainly focus on the attacking play from midielders and ignore their defensive efforts (or lack of defensive efforts from the superstars), but what i like this Giants midfield group is how hard they work and their willingness to get down and dirty.
 
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He was a huge loss when he left our club. 21, we did the hard work developing him, then he uproots to play his prime years. Very very good footballer, but more importantly is a culture changer to a football club and is in my opinion the top individual leaders in the league.
Yeah those 3 games you pumped into him in 2011 really fast tracked his development.
 
Way to exaggerate a single players contribution....

An absolute constellation of other reasons why "GWS arent a Gold Coast"... Best Captain in the league? pull the other one.

He is a very very good player and is a good leader for that footy club but enough of the hyperbole.
He is the best Captain in the league
 
Massive stretch. He was 21 when he arrived. GWS and GC had similar numbers of young kids (of which Davis was essentially one) but the difference is GWS also chose character, leadership and experience in the likes of Sheedy, Choco Williams, Brogan, Cornes, Power and McDonald.

GWS/the AFL learnt from some of the decisions made in the formation of the Gold Coast, given the original plan for the Gold Coast involved North.

No doubt Davis was an inspired pick.
 
The biggest difference between GWS and Gold Coast is how they approached their initial recruitment and leadership.

Gold Coast splashed cash and picked a wonderful individual footballer as their inaugural captain. A guy who plays brilliantly himself but does nothing for his teammates. A selfish footballer who was a terrible leader. They surrounded him with a bunch of mid 20s mercenaries who took the easy coin. The culture was rotten from the start. It filtered down and the next two captains - Lynch and May - had seen nothing but selfishness in the club and watched as other talented players (Prestia, O Meara etc) escaped. They too bailed. The place is now a basket case.

The number one reason is a complete failing of leadership. That started with the appointment of Gary Ablett as captain.

GWS on the other hand targeted players of character in their early 20s. Consummate professionals and leaders - Phil Davis, Callan Ward and Tom Scully. Not the best footballers in the country but young guys you could trust to build a culture. They surrounded them with established but fading leaders and professionals - James Mcdonald, Luke Power and Chad Cornes. Guys who were past it as footballers but could show how to train, how to lead etc. The type of roles clubs have pinched Hodge and Mitchell for since.

Players have come and gone from GWS - they have lost some very good ones.

Both clubs were handed early picks and both drafted talented kids. The fundamental difference was the approach they took to leadership at their inception. Those decisions have defined their cultures.

It is the most important and underrated thing in football. People laud individual brilliance but it’s a team sport. Leadership, character and culture win out as they get the best out of the collective.

It’s why I scoff at suggestions Ablett Jnr is the best ever or even the best of his generation. I’d take plenty before him to build a club. The modern greats at the front of that list would be Hodge, Selwood, Mitchell, Riewoldt, Pendlebury, Cotchin. Leaders.

Davis is made of the right stuff. So is Ward. Coniglio is next in line and seems similarly minded. Those players are worth so much more than a talented bloke who plays for himself, racks up stats and individual awards.
 
Yeah those 3 games you pumped into him in 2011 really fast tracked his development.
That's because of a long term injury. He played 18 games for us but you could tell he was quality. Why did GWS offer him 800k a year back then? 1. Because they knew he was a ****ing good player and 2. There was no chance we could match that salary for him at that stage back then
 

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