Nick Davis (quality or not)

[Reggi]

Just invloved in a discussion on another board on this subject.

Seems Collingwood supporters still highly rate him.

To me has always been and will always be just a fair player - mid range on anyone's list - reasonable, but not amazing talent.

Fourth in our goalkicking

About 12th in disposals

Not top ten in B & F

Nice straight kick - but I would say a not really exceptional player.

Just wanting to gauge some opinions

Is he average/ fair - good - very good - or a gun?

[Bleed Red Blood]

Nick I would rate as a great pick up for pick 20 something, he's not a star and probably never will be but that goal he kicked against Carlton will stand out in my mind as goal of the year. Even if that Coast player won it.

[Charlie]

He COULD be very good.

Unfortunately, he takes after Dale Lewis in the sense that he seems to think he doesn't need to be 'very' good, just 'good'.

[Plugger46]

Very good. He may not be the hardest worker (although he's improved in that area of his game) but he gives you that little bit of class that other players can't/don't. He's not a star and never will be IMO, but he's still a quality footballer.

He has a habit of kicking pressure goals, which is a great trait to have. Virtually always uses the pill to the side's advantage. To be perfectly honest, I couldn't care less where he finishes in the B&F, or how many touches he gets because the touches he gets are normally damaging and effective. And you don't get a vote in the B&F for kicking a really important goal when it's needed. The big posession getters or just general midfielders tend to do better in B&F's than small forwards.


He will go missing at times, that's just the player he is. But when you need someone to stand up and kick the big goal, he will do it. (Eg: The Port Adelaide final)

[Reggi]

Didn't he miss the big goal in the Port final?

Not much point Plugger46 being a good disposer if you rarely get it - but point taken

[Plugger46]

Originally posted by Reggi
Didn't he miss the big goal in the Port final?

Not much point Plugger46 being a good disposer if you rarely get it - but point taken

If I remember correctly, he kicked the first one after taking the one handed mark, but then missed one later in the quarter. I think I'm right in saying that.

I understand your point there, but someone can get the footy 10 or 15 times, and virtually have no impact where as Davis can get it 5 times and turn a game.

[dendol]

I think he suffered from the "talented but lazy" syndrome. From interviews and reports Ive seen this year, he seems to want to change that. IIRC, he had surgery on some part of his leg during last years preseason so wasnt super fit coming into the 2003 season.

The fact that he wants to run around in the midfield means that he will be working hard this preseason. This hard work plus his natural talent could mean he will be a star in 2004 and beyond..

[Cheer Cheer]

Re: Nick Davis (quality or not)

Originally posted by Reggi
Just invloved in a discussion on another board on this subject.

Seems Collingwood supporters still highly rate him.

To me has always been and will always be just a fair player - mid range on anyone's list - reasonable, but not amazing talent.

Fourth in our goalkicking

About 12th in disposals

Not top ten in B & F

Nice straight kick - but I would say a not really exceptional player.

Just wanting to gauge some opinions

Is he average/ fair - good - very good - or a gun?

Nick is going to be a star.
He had no preseason last year but showed what he is capable of if he gets fully fit which is:-
He is as skillfull as any person in the competition.
I can see him being the "white version" of fully flying michael o'loughlin aka the year 2000
If his fitness improves over the pre season which I have no doubt it will and he plays alot of time in the midfield, I think he could become our best midfielder - not hardest but most effective.
Next season will be a better indication if my prediction of him being a star will be spot on or not.
I'm proud to wear the number 2 on the back of my guersney.

[desredandwhite]

My assessment:

Talent - Immeasurable

Work Ethic - Questionable, but seemed to improve throughout 2003.

Agree with Charlie re: comparison to Dale Lewis. However if Nicky can have one ripper season like Dale's '97.....

[liz]

He's not a star - yet - but has the natural talent to be a very very good player if he wants to. Whether he will become one, only time will tell.

I do, however, think some people underestimate his range of skills. I think he's far more focussed and determined than he's sometimes given credit for. Wind your tape to about the halfway mark of the second quarter against Port this season. He took on two tacklers, broke both, tight on the boundary line, got the ball off to Crouch and moments later Williams was slotting our third or fourth goal of the quarter. And that wasn't an isolated incident of him doing that - just the one that I can most readily recall.

I also think that Lewis was a maligned player - we saw how consistently brilliant he was capable of being over a season in 1997 but a wretched run with injuries robbed him of the chance to show that he could repeat it.

You can't build a team around 22 Nick Davises or Dale Lewises but this type of classy, and sometimes elusive, player is a very valuable addition to a balanced team.

[Rod_]

A natural talent that needs to work on his game to achieve greatness! (Harder he works the better he will become)

Rod_

Mediocrity is not the best yardstick to be measured by........

[floppinab]

He may not be the hardest worker (although he's improved in that area of his game) but he gives you that little bit of class that other players can't/don't.

Nailed it there. In a team that doesn't have a huge amount of class, he provides it.

He's not going to be a star or gun but he'll continue to be as he was this year, very good.

He'll never lose that attitude, which I think alienates him a bit from the rest of the team, but it does take all types to make a great team and we will continue to need a type like him.

[dendol]

He'll never lose that attitude, which I think alienates him a bit from the rest of the team, but it does take all types to make a great team and we will continue to need a type like him.

I think hes working very hard to "lose that attitude". He actually wants to play in the midfield, and Im sure Roosy has told him that hes gotta lift his work ethic if he wants to be successful there.

And from what Ive seen, he doesnt seem to be alienated at all. The rest of the team seem to enjoy his company, and Cressa actually became best buddies with him this year. Cressa calls him "Dicky Navis", which I just find hilarious.

[stellation]

I think that Nick has probably been hindered a bit by the lack of a pre-season last year and all of the mess with his leaving Collingwood and coming to Sydney. Someone on this board in another thread on Nick ages ago compared him to Mark Waugh as always being viewed as "yeah he is good, but still dissapointing because think of what he could be..." and I think this is fair... his skills now I would put above Dale's (much as I loved Dale).

As for the game against PA, he did miss the second shot in the last quarter but he kicked the first that was (I believe) under more pressure.

probably a bit unfair to question his coming forth, he was one off being 3rd and the other two both spent a lot of time around FF

I think he will be a star, I hope he will be a gun... I think he has some of the best skills I have ever seen, and he must be close to the best as far as ratio of quality use of the ball when he gets rid of it

and he is a Sydney boy who is easy on the eye and good with the media, so if he becomes a star that wouldn't hurt either...

I'll stop because I am starting to seem like I am gushing...

[dimelb]

I'd rate Nick very good, and could be a star. Some people think he's soft, but after watching him properly for the first time this year I disagree. He was roughed up a few times, especially by McVeigh against Essendon, and came through it well, including a gimme goal after he was flattened off the play.
His goal against PA in the finals, when he collected that cross kick from Bazza, was a very timely pressure kick, and his sealer against his old outfit was one of the moments of the season.
I've said before I'd like to see him work on his tackling - it's about the only skill where he could really make big strides IMO. I don't think he's another Mickey O - not big enough or quick enough - but he's a wonderful asset to the side.