Nick Davis will never forget the moment he was ‘given the keys’ to one of the greatest players of all-time.

It was shortly before Christmas 2013. Working at the Swans as a development and kicking coach, he stepped out of the lift that went up to the offices at the SCG and bumped into John Longmire with the club’s secret boom recruit.

“Nick … meet Lance,” said the coach. “And Lance … meet Nick. He’s going to teach you to kick straight.” Or words to that effect – and no doubt said with a smile.

Davis offered this little piece of private anecdotal gold this week as he reflected on more than 20 years in red and white – six years as a player until he was delisted in 2008 and 15-plus years as a coach after he returned in 2010.

Having rejoined as a development coach in the AFL program, he also had five years as the AFL team runner. Later, he worked in the boys’ and girls’ academies, and more recently as the senior assistant-coach of the AFLW team, which included a stint as caretaker coach.

But this week ‘Davo’ has made a leap into the unknown, and without knowing exactly what he’s going to do next, he’s decided it’s time to try something new. To see if the multitude of technical skills and the engaging personality that has made him an all-time club favorite can combine successfully in a new challenge.

“It’s a bit like a sabbatical,” he declared. “I’ve learned so much from so many great people at the Swans and I’ve loved every minute of it … and one day I might end up back there … but I just feel the time is right to do something different.

“I’m not sure if I’m a good coach or have just been fortunate to work with some good players and good people, but it’s time to find out. For my own personal development, I need to look at something different and see if I can learn some new things.

“Maybe down the track I can bring some new ideas back to the Swans. Who knows? But I do know the club has been fantastic in letting me dabble in different areas over the years and has given me a range of unbelievable learnings and opportunities.”

It’s partly a move by Davis to give some space to his 16-year-old daughter Jordan, a member of the QBE Sydney Swans Academy who has always been coached by her father. “She doesn’t need the old man looking over her shoulder all the time,” he reasoned.

Davis will still undertake part-time corporate work for the club – and anyone introducing him at a sportsman’s night will have more material than just the fact that he kicked four goals in the last quarter of a semi-final against Geelong en route to the 2005 premiership.

Now the 45-year-old Swans premiership player and life member will also be the guy who helped ‘Buddy’ with his kicking.

For context on where this all began, Franklin had just joined the Swans in one of the great recruiting coups of all-time. He’d kicked 580 goals in 182 games with Hawthorn, including the last AFL ‘ton’ in 2008, and had won the Coleman Medal in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2013.

Coach Longmire would not have said as much, but perhaps he’d noted that Franklin had kicked 580 goals 422 behinds at the Hawks for a conversion rate of 57.88%. And perhaps he thought there was room for improvement.

It was never a big thing with the man who quickly became a huge Swans favorite, but Davis loved the time he spent working with Franklin. “He was a pretty private bloke, but he really loved his footy and was a great student of the game. And he was a deep thinker on footy.”

If he was so inclined – and maybe only in a sportsman’s night setting – Davis could point to the fact that maybe he did help the great man a little. Because at the Swans ‘Bud’ kicked 480-320 at 60.29%.

But there is much more to Davis’ contribution to the Swans than his four goals in 20 minutes 20 years ago, and his kicking expertise. He’s filled a multitude of coaching roles at the club and has been admired and respected across the board.

It all came after 71 games with Collingwood from 1999-2002, including the 2002 grand final, and a life-changing trade to Sydney, where he played 97 games from 2003-08.

He wanted to play on after he was delisted by the Swans in October 2008, nominating for the draft, and dabbled with the prospect of becoming an NFL punter, before he joined the Swans coaching staff.

Then came a chance meeting with coach Longmire at the club one day. “He asked how fit I was and said to me that he’s give me a call. I immediately thought ‘comeback’ and went for a run and had a few kicks. But as it turned out he wanted me to be the runner. I was happy with that because I didn’t have to tackle,” he joked.

He filled this crucial role as the coach’s on-field voice from 2012-15 in an era in which the runner spent almost as much time on the ground as some players, and completed a rare double of premiership player and premiership runner in his first season in the fluro green.

He graduated to be part of the team in the coaches box with Longmire in 2016-18, took over at the Academy in 2019, and joined the AFLW program in 2023.

With the full support of the club, he’s dabbled with rugby league and rugby union along the way, which in part explains the temptation to do some new things now while continuing his AFL connection via commentary with SEN radio.

“I’ve been so fortunate to coach some incredible players … (Isaac) Heeney, (Errol) Gulden, (Nick) Blakey and (Callum) Mills … and before them (George) Hewett, (Tim) Membrey, (Aliir) Aliir and (Toby) Nankervis,” he said, before rattling off a list of rugby league equivalents.

“And more recently, Laura Gardiner and Sofia Hurley, who have won the Swans B&F, and Chloe Molloy who we got from Collingwood.”

So, what will he miss now that he’s not going to work at the club every day?

He didn’t hesitate: “I’ll miss the people,” he said. “The strength of a football club, or any organisation for that matter, is the quality of the people, and the people at the Swans have just been magnificent.

“It goes back to (Ricky) Quade and (Dennis) Carroll, (Craig) Holden and (Ron) Barassi, (Andrew) Ireland and (Tom) Harley, and (John) Longmire. It’s wrong to single out a few because there have been so many at all levels, but I can’t thank them enough for all the experiences, all I’ve learned and all the fun I’ve had.”

“But I won’t miss Horse’s bad jokes,” he said. “And now that he’s not coaching and he can’t get around in a polo shirt all day I won’t miss his bad dress sense.”

The son of Craig Davis, a 163-game AFL player at Carlton, North Melbourne, Collingwood and Sydney turned 20-year official in NSW football, Nick Davis was born to be a footballer.

But in bidding farewell to the Swans, at least temporarily, he lifted the lid on another special ‘weapon’ in his football arsenal. He has two all-time footballing greats as Godfathers … Andrew Ireland, a teammate of his father at Collingwood who was a premiership-winning CEO with the Brisbane Lions and the Swans and is now on the AFL Commission. And AFL Hall of Fame Legend, AFL Team of the Century member and Sport Australia Hall of Famer Alex Jesaulenko MBE, who played with his father at Carlton.

Is it any wonder he could turn a final in a twinkling, and could help ‘drive’ one of the greatest of all-time?