By: JAMES BRESNEHAN
It does not hurt to have excelled in testing at the AFL draft camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra last week.
Apart from being enormously talented on the field, the Tassie Mariner and North Hobart defender demonstrated he had what every AFL club desires in a player -- a big motor.
Davies proved that by claiming the second-best effort in the punishing beep test and a top 10 spot in the gut-wrenching 3km time trial.
``The time trial was pretty tough,'' Davies said yesterday.
``I came 10th with a time of 10 minutes 22 seconds. I was really happy with that because I wanted to go under 10m30s and I achieved that,'' he said.
``The camp was fantastic. The recruiters have seen us play so it was a great opportunity to show ourselves in a different scenario with the testing and interviews.''
Aside from his physical exploits, Davies has been interviewed by grand final combatants, Geelong and St Kilda, as well as Sydney, Adelaide, Port Adelaide, Richmond, Collingwood, North Melbourne, Melbourne, Brisbane and Carlton.
``They just want to get a gauge on who you are, what your personality is like, what your background is and that sort of thing,'' Davies said.
``It's hard to read what they are thinking. You just hope they like you and maybe give you an opportunity.''
Davies was at the AIS this time last year, but not as a footballer -- as a cricketer.
``I went over to have my bowling action analysed, and the draft camp was on at the same time,'' Davies said.
The Tasmanian under-19 cricket representative has since shelved bat and ball in favour of footy.
``I got selected in the [cricket] under-19s again this year but with my commitment to football, which is my priority, I had to give cricket a rest,'' Davies said.
Last Modified on 06/10/2009 10:13