It has to do a lot with the position and the training since getting drafted I think; at junior level he was very much an intercept and rebound defender at around centre half back that would get killed against a good opponent for loose checking but the clear training focus with him has been on close checking lock down on the last lines of defence. With him being deeper most of the time most of his disposals are by hand to quick runners or short kicks rather than long kicks.You're as high on and as knowledgeable about Davies as anyone I've seen on the board, so a query I have. His draft profiles suggested him as an intercept type that brings it out of defence but struggles with one-on-one defending. By the end of the first season, however, he seemed to not really have that intercept game or be someone you'd be particularly confident about bringing the ball out of defence (at least at WAFL seniors level, he got a lot of the ball at WAFL reserves in his few games there), but the one-on-one defence had generally improved (Ben Sokol being probably his highlight scalp). However, he seemed to have issues against the big slow key fwds at WAFL level (Keitel had a game on him I believe).
The club at the very least have seen enough in him to give him the 2 year deal, so there's something there. So I guess my 2 part question:
- Do you think he'll ever get that intercept game and/or be a reliable option to bring the ball out of defence at the highest level?
- Do you think he is currently or can eventually be someone who you trust physically against an AFL key fwd?