KFC for thought

[ScottH]

Also, re-the comment about Davis' quarter being forgotten had it not been a final etc etc.

One who springs to mind who in hindsight was always remembered for a great spurt of play is Adam Schneider.
He lived of that pre season form for a very long time and really was never able to replicate it.

PF 2005! broke the game open with a few quick goals.

[hammo]

Great post ROKL. Don't disagree with anything there.

None of us really knows what is going on behind the scenes. We can speculate that Davis is lazy, not a team player, a poor tackler and is disliked by Roos and the leadership group but we don't know for sure.

Most of us can also have an objective view that Davis playing at his best is in our best 22, and would give an X factor to what is already a very strong (though sometimes missing) forward line.

If Roos truly wants Davis back kicking goals, chasing and tackling in the forward line (and I still think the Swans coaching staff don't place a high enough priority on the goals part), then he needs to stop criticising Davis in the press and give him the confidence to come back and play his best football.

Even the best AFL footballers would start second guessing their ability when you're playing reserves football in Canberra and the senior coach is questioning your ability and work ethic in the media day after day.

[Legs Akimbo]

'Nick Davis, Saved Us' - he was the bridge from another 'close but not good enough' year to OUR premiership. That means as supporters, we owe him...doesn't it? Nic individually, personally, gave us so many happy memories. He's a hero - how can the club treat him this way? Didn't he move to Sydney to play for the Swans? WE owe him for that...don't WE. Why is Paul Roos being so shabby towards him? Nic's a fun guy isn't he? Didn't he say he was going to win a Brownlow last year? Didn't we all chuckle, but feel slightly hopeful? He's knock-about is Nick - A lad. A counterbalance to the boring team thing Sydney, which is good isn't it. AFL needs more characters, doesn't it?

So, why is Nick, our hero, down in cold and windy Canberra every Saturday, standing hands on hips, open mouthed with that slightly dumb arsed dog faced look of his, playing against those who have less talent that he has in his left toe? He's kicking bags of goals isn't he?

It's hard not to feel bad about this. I feel guilty because he gave ME so much joy. It's so UNFAIR. What can we do?

Now the facts...

1. The team is winning more without him now
2. He was lazy and (I think) soft when he played earlier this year
3. His teamates and coach don't like his attitude, for reasons we don't fully understand. Probably broke some team rule or other, which we don't know about. Playing him probably means pissing off 21 other people who followed the rules (be they good, bad or indifferent).

So...my advice to Nicky

Suck it in - smell the roses. Your @@@@ does stink. Life sucks. Listen, learn, accept what they want from you and change accordingly or go and play rugby, or whatever it is you said you would do in one of many conceited moments you @@@@ing quasi tragic, quasi comedic flawed genius, you.

...and forget 2005 as if it never happened.

[Wardy]

Legs isnt a fan obviously..................

[NMWBloods]

It's one of those issues where everyone has to take some share of the blame. Unfortunately most of those involved look like they are unwilling to recognise any blame. Based on what he has said about many things, I certainly can't see Roos ever admitting to doing any wrong. I think Davis would have developed better under Malthouse.

[Industrial Fan]

Interesting thoughts ROK.

I agree to an extent that he has had his talents oversold for him by others, and that there was an existing tag of "talented, but..." hanging over him prior the S/F. I didnt like Davis at that point, and while it was a great sporting moment and great to be there, I'm sure I would look upon it more fondly had it been Mick, Goodes, Kirk, Schneider, etc who'd kicked those goals instead of Davis. In the end he did some freakish things that night, that I doubt any other player on our list could have done (although the fact that it was done at all was pretty improbable).

I dont really agree that his efforts were out of the stratosphere compared to what his normal 'peak' performance could be. When I read those comments, I thought - what if Bevan had kicked those goals? I'm sure many would agree that for Bevan to kick 4 goals under that sort of pressure would be a once in a lifetime effort. For Davis, it was seen more in the way that he had finally shown what he'd been threatening to show for years. I do think you're selling Davis' ability short, but at the same time, expectations are/were possibly too high.

With Roos, I think with all coaches different players get different opportunities and as people we view things differently. For all we know, had someone else taken over, Kirk may have been delisted, Goodes may have been traded, Barry may have been suspended every second week. Davis is the roadkill along the way, but not every system suits everyone. As has been pointed out, another coach may have got more from Davis than Roos, but would the overall results be the same?

I think it is interesting to note that many of the posters here would say that we could use his couple of goals a week to win the 'close ones'. Even though he scored a goal in the Saints game, I think it was just as much the goal he kicked as the one that he didn't that got him dropped. We have won two very close games without Davis this season, and by keeping our composure until the end. By dropping long bombs (albeit over a crowded 50) I'm sure this was seen as a low % play by the coaches who would prefer a more patient build up to beat the flood. Of course I'm speculating here, but I'd be surprised if that was far away from the mark.

[Wardy]

It's one of those issues where everyone has to take some share of the blame. Unfortunately most of those involved look like they are unwilling to recognise any blame. Based on what he has said about many things, I certainly can't see Roos ever admitting to doing any wrong.

there are faults on all sides here, not saying Davo isnt to blame, he is but not entirely. I just want them to all get together have a group hug, let bygones be bygones and just get on with it.! (I know easier said than done!)

[Legs Akimbo]

Legs isnt a fan obviously..................

Actually, liked him as a player. Then Roos tried to break him and succeeded but not as intended. Now he's busted up, I just wish he'd go away because as a fan, he makes me feel guilty.

Sort of like when your'e a kid and your mum buys you an awesome toy but you break it and you feel like @@@@ because she forked out her hard earned dollars on it, so you just go and hide it under the house and forget about it.

Maybe 20 years later you find it and it brings back fond memories of your mum, but slightly bitter sweet too.

Maybe when I am 50 I'l come across washed up over soaked Nick at some seedy bar and it will be like that.

[Wardy]

Actually, liked him as a player. Then Roos tried to break him and succeeded but not as intended. Now he's busted up, I just wish he'd go away because as a fan, he makes me feel guilty.

Sort of like when your'e a kid and your mum buys you an awesome toy but you break it and you feel like @@@@ because she forked out her hard earned dollars on it, so you just go and hide it under the house and forget about it.

Maybe 20 years later you find it and it brings back fond memories of your mum, but slightly bitter sweet too.

Maybe when I am 50 I'l come across washed up over soaked Nick at some seedy bar and it will be like that.

you know you do have a point! oh well you could probably find him at Northies.

[ROK Lobster]

Actually, liked him as a player. Then Roos tried to break him and succeeded but not as intended. Now he's busted up, I just wish he'd go away because as a fan, he makes me feel guilty.

Sort of like when your'e a kid and your mum buys you an awesome toy but you break it and you feel like @@@@ because she forked out her hard earned dollars on it, so you just go and hide it under the house and forget about it.

Maybe 20 years later you find it and it brings back fond memories of your mum, but slightly bitter sweet too.

Maybe when I am 50 I'l come across washed up over soaked Nick at some seedy bar and it will be like that.

That's poetry.

[Legs Akimbo]

That's poetry.

One good turn deserves another. Nothing like a bye to bring out the navel gazer in us all. Time to ponder, reflect, take the piss.

[Mr Magoo]

Have a look at the 2005 highlights tape. That Geelong game stood out because of the theatrics of the night but at the time Davis was in excellent form and had more than good games in both the Hawthorn and West Coast games leading up to it. He has the ability just not the application unfortunately.

I think it is naive to think that Roos doesnt play favourites as I dont think Ive met a person that doesnt prefer one person over another for different reasons even though they can essentially do the same job or even lesser. I also think it is naive to think that Roos hasnt tried to get him up but there comes a point in time when you take view that there is only so much you can do with someone and the rest is up to them. That little pest Milne at St Kilda is another like Davis that given the chance can score a bag of goals but Lyon has finally realised that the greater good of the team may be served by him not being there.

Davis is at this time just not good enough to play in the firsts team. He doesnt chase hard and where in the past his superb kicking has made up for his shortfalls , this season when he did play in the firsts, even it was ordinary.

Most nice slick forward entries in the game at the moment come from slick backline movement. If a forward doesnt chase and tackle the two goals they score way as well be zero because you can probably be assured that if they put no pressure on the man they were marking up on, he has created two or more himself. Look at Geelong, the Swans , the bulldogs and adelaide. All have backman that are dangerous in attack.

[Go Swannies]

Actually, liked him as a player. Then Roos tried to break him and succeeded but not as intended. Now he's busted up, I just wish he'd go away because as a fan, he makes me feel guilty.

Sort of like when your'e a kid and your mum buys you an awesome toy but you break it and you feel like @@@@ because she forked out her hard earned dollars on it, so you just go and hide it under the house and forget about it.

Maybe 20 years later you find it and it brings back fond memories of your mum, but slightly bitter sweet too.

Maybe when I am 50 I'l come across washed up over soaked Nick at some seedy bar and it will be like that.

Why am I having a Heart of Darkness moment? I'll come into some Iban village in Sarawak and will find a bloated Nicky D with a bleached blonde (or two) on his arm caressing the "I Hate Collingwood" badge pinned to his sweat-stained "Swans Premiers 2005" T-shirt. I'll buy him a whiskey and he'll tell me about how he and Jason had practised that manouver in many drills, while the rest of the bar regulars move away saying they'd heard it so many time before - was it 5 or 7 seconds before the siren because sometimes he gets confused these days?

Then the bouncer will come over and ask us to leave. And I'll recognise that it's Barry Hall. Then it'll all come out that the Rev. Crouch owns the bar and it'll have a wide range of reds, all perfectly cellared.

[ROK Lobster]

Why am I having a Heart of Darkness moment? I'll come into some Iban village in Sarawak and will find a bloated Nicky D with a bleached blonde (or two) on his arm caressing the "I Hate Collingwood" badge pinned to his sweat-stained "Swans Premiers 2005" T-shirt. I'll buy him a whiskey and he'll tell me about how he and Jason had practised that manouver in many drills, while the rest of the bar regulars move away saying they'd heard it so many time before - was it 5 or 7 seconds before the siren because sometimes he gets confused these days?

Then the bouncer will come over and ask us to leave. And I'll recognise that it's Barry Hall. Then it'll all come out that the Rev. Crouch owns the bar and it'll have a wide range of reds, all perfectly cellared.

Hehehe. For me, this is what RWO is all about. Some sensible discussion, interspersed with some genuine humour.

[ROK Lobster]

With Roos, I think with all coaches different players get different opportunities and as people we view things differently. For all we know, had someone else taken over, Kirk may have been delisted, Goodes may have been traded, Barry may have been suspended every second week. Davis is the roadkill along the way, but not every system suits everyone. As has been pointed out, another coach may have got more from Davis than Roos, but would the overall results be the same?

I was hoping to make that point, perhaps I didn't, but I think you are right.