Every club’s biggest ‘what if’ moment of the AFL era – Part Five

What if Nick Davis never came to save the Swans in the last term of the 2005 Semi-Final?

In the third instalment of this series, I spared Geelong fans a tale of woe. However, having decided to pick at a scar that was once a vicious scab, my benevolence towards the Kardinia Park club has now evaporated.

Should you utter Nick Davis' name in any public house from South Melbourne to Sydney and as sure as night leading into day, you will be met with a shrieking retort of someone channeling Anthony Hudson.

Yes, we all saw Davis swoop at a stoppage in the dying stages of the 2005 Semi-Final against the Cats, and yes, none of us believed it then either.

Prior to the 9th of September 2005, the former father-son pick who began his AFL life at Victoria Park had failed to set the footy world on fire. Since debuting for the Magpies in Round 1 of the 1999 season until the Swans Qualifying Final loss to the Eagles in '05, Davis had laced the boots on 127-occasions and had slotted 171-majors at a rate of 1.3 per game.

Sure, these numbers were serviceable, but said adjective was abolished and replaced with heroic from the ninth minute of the Semi-Final onwards.

However, had it not been for a stirring speech from his skipper, the then 25-year-old could easily have been cast in the role of a villain instead.

With the Swans trailing by just shy of three-straight kicks at three-quarter time of the aforesaid clash against the travelling Moggs, the hopes that many red and white backers held of breaking the then longest premiership drought in AFL/VFL history were fading fast.

With less than three-minutes gone on the clock in the final term, these dwindling dreams appeared to have well and truly gone down the drain.

SEE ALSO: What if Brayden Maynard had been paid a free kick in the 2018 Grand Final? 

Davis, who had been named by Paul Roos to line-up in the forward pocket and who at that stage had only troubled the scorers with a pair of behinds, started the final stanza alongside Geelong defender, David Johnson. But after allowing the bald Cat to waltz the length of the ground and to extend the margin to 23-points, Davis, and his Swans, looked more like dead ducks.

On the Channel Ten footage from the night, as Johnson is surrounded by celebrating teammates, in the corner of the screen, viewers can see a muddied Brett Kirk jogging towards his defensive arc. His target? A sheepish looking small-forward in the number 2 guernsey.

In a 2011 interview, the forward who had refused to defend spoke about how his skipper had helped lift his head following his lethargic brain fade.

"He [Kirk] wasn't happy," Davis explained.

"There was a miscommunication between Lewis [Roberts-Thomson] and myself and I buggered it up.

"My man kicked a goal and 'Kirky' came and had a word gave me some words of encouragement and they obviously worked."

With the Swans, at that stage, trailing by just shy of four-goals with less than that many attributed to them the old SCG scoreboard, the time for a comeback was, as they say, of the essence.

After a rushed behind for the Swans a minute after Johnson's jaunt and a further handful of minutes elapsing, Davis, a man with plenty of finals experience, rose to the occasion and pulled his magic wand from his red ankle warmers.

As the clock ticked and the Swans remained stagnant, the Channel Ten commentary team began discussing the enormity of the task ahead of the harbour city side. Risks were said to be required, but according to the curmudgeonly Malcom Blight, the home side was incapable of adapting their style that late in the game and that late in the season.

SEE ALSO: What if Essendon never contacted Stephen Dank?

With the ball lodged on the right side of the slashed arc at the Randwick end of the Cricket ground, Blight launched into a tirade.

“I reckon you've got to do something radical now,” the two-time premiership coach began.

“I reckon you've got to throw Tadgh Kennelly on to the ball…probably Leo Barry. Just change the team around. Change the mix in the middle.

“You have to pick up four or five goals. The way they're playing, they're not going to do it this way.”

Although the South Australian superstar's statements originally appeared salient, they would prove unnecessary, as a Reebok booted local silenced Blight's mustachioed mouth with his first major of the night from Row F of the Churchill Stand.

Such was the brilliance of Davis' opening goal; Blight's befuddled terseness was u-turned into laughter almost instantly.

One down. Three to go. Sydney still 16-points behind.

Following a Craig Bolton behind and yet another handful of tense minutes erased before the siren's call, Davis again bobbed up on the end of Ryan O'Keefe floater inside 50. After lining his body up and running through a set of Ballet like warm-ups, the former second-round draftee slapped the Sherrin half-way up Yabba's hill and snapped the near 40,000 spectators from their slumber.

Two down. Two to go. The Swans still nine-points adrift

In the aftermath of this set-shot, those that were glued to their TVs were afforded their first glimpse of what is without doubt one of the most prophetic sporting banners of all time and one of the finest displays of foreshadowing during a live television broadcast.

Although he was only half-way there, and the Swans supporters were still living on a prayer, previously gnawn finger nails were once gain placed between clenched teeth, as a further 10-minutes ticked off before Davis returned to centre stage.

Between 1916 and 1987, the NSWRL held more than 50 of their Grand Finals at the SCG, and despite the fact that the Steeden had been switched for a Sherrin on this night, the series of tackles, fends and grapples that broke out across the oval from both sets of short-sleeved men would have made names like Arthur Beetson, Tommy Raudonikis and ‘Crusher' Cleal proud.

Still, it would once again take a man that converted from said code as a youngster to end the impasse.

Despite the fact his father Craig had played 163-games of top-flight Australian Rules Football, Nick Davis grew up playing Rugby League. Whether or not he had proven adept at swatting defenders away as a junior is unknown, but enroute to his third major in 17-minutes, the man who was in as form as warm as the colour of his shorts fended Geelong's Darren Milburn like ‘Joey' Johns and slapped the Sherrin through in a similar vein to the notorious toe poker, Eric Simms.

Three down. One to go. Just three-points the difference.

Until the club's Preliminary Final win against Essendon in 1996, Melburnians had shown a propensity to snub their noses at those who filled the stands in Sydney, with many believing that those that had made their way through Moore Park and around the Kippax Lake were a different breed of barracker to those that used to stand beside the reservoir in Albert Park.

Yet, as the timekeepers readied themselves to put an end to the contest, even the routinely tame Member's stand was rocking like the pit of a Pantera gig.

Lounge room audiences were also thrashing due to commentator, and current match review officer, Michael Christian reaching his audible zenith as time continued to amount beyond the then customary ‘five-minute warning'.

SEE ALSO: What if Nauru never called in their loan from Fitzroy?

Not content just to come close, Davis' teammates continued to mirror his intensity and thirst for victory, whilst conversely, the Cats had started to wilt dramatically.

With yet another chunk of the time being chewed, those that were backing the Swans - or the narrative - that night were once again forced to chomp towards their cuticles. Nevertheless, these punters were spared an exorbitant manicure bill when Jason Ball reefed a tap down, Davis delivered for a final time and Anthony Hudson's voice broke despite doubting his eyes.

Siren. Swans by three-points.

Should you look, you will find larger comebacks in the annals of Australian Rules Football, but you won't find too many where the conductor also played every instrument in the orchestra. Nick Davis' one-man-band effort nearly 16-years ago set the Swans' benchmark for the remainder of that drought breaking September.

But what if he had snapped a string? What if a reed was ruptured? What if his baton was bent?

Having single-handedly eliminated his side's deficit in the space of exactly 20-minutes, Davis deserves the space he owns in every Sydney fan's minds, yet would the narrative have played out as it did in reality had it not been his direct opponent that stretched Geelong's lead early in the final term?

Had it not been David Johnson that delivered what originally appeared a knock-out blow to the Swans chances of survival and advancement, Sydney's co-captain, Brett Kirk, would have never felt compelled to stride towards Davis and provide what could well be his second most impactful speech of all time.

Had it been Mooney, Ablett, Chapman, Gardiner, Playfair or any other name wearing blue and white hoops that night that had split the sticks, would Davis have felt compelled to do a Bachman-Turner and switch into overdrive?

Despite holding nothing close to empirical evidence, my belief is that he wouldn't have, but as he did, we all bore witness to the fact that he could.

SEE ALSO: What if the Dockers had kicked straight in the 2013 Grand Final?

If Davis had either loped through the remainder of the contest or completely gone into his shell, there appeared to be less than a snowflake's chance in hades that Sydney would have claimed victory that night. Even if he had timed his run off a slight delay, the now 41-year-old's efforts would have likely been in vain.

Should any of these scenarios have played out instead, Sydney's silverware dry spell would have extended in to at least a 73^rd year.

But which club would have had their name engraved on the cup instead?

Had the siren sounded with the Cats toppling the home side, they would have progressed to play St Kilda at the MCG the following week. With a 1-1 record against the Saints that year, the boys from the pivot city could have felt content in the knowledge that the job was not beyond them.

Still, having been swept by the Moorabbin men just over a month prior to the tune of 41-points, punters would have likely been backing Grant Thomas' side to continue the trend after enjoying a week off.

Should the Saints have overcome their Preliminary Final hurdle that would haunt them for a further four-seasons in reality, they would have faced the Eagles on Grand Final day.

History suggests that John Worsfold's side were destined for late September success at some stage, and with the wood over the Saints that season, had Davis failed to deliver in the Semis, then West Coast's inevitable celebrations would have taken place 12-months earlier than in truth.

However, as is known, Nick Davis came to save his side, so the Eagles were made to wait.