Unheralded Lavington utility Kai Davies has won a spot in Essendon's VFL development squad.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 20-year-old has played only 21 senior Ovens and Murray Football League games.
Ex-Lavington team-mate Macca Hallows was last week named on the Bombers' senior list, telling The Border Mail he had dropped everything for an opportunity in the state league.
And Davies had a similar dream.
"Yeah, basically, Brent Stanton is the coach at Essendon and he signed at 'Lavi' for a brief stint in the COVID year, 2020, he has family up there and everything went from there," he suggested.
But while Hallows carried a reputation after playing in the Panthers' 2019 premiership team and also performing well for the Murray Bushrangers at junior representative level, Davies lobbed at the Bombers as an unknown.
Strongly built at 190cms and 95kgs, Davies played a number of positions at the Panthers, including the ruck and defence.
"Essendon has me as an inside midfielder, I played a 'praccie' game there against Coburg, but I can play anywhere, at VFL level I'm probably not big enough to play key back," he offered.
"There's a couple of boys in front of me for an inside mid spot, including an ex-AFL guy, but it's a super learning experience, I just want to further my footy and see how I go."
Davies, who is the younger brother of East Albury cricket coach Brett, will predominantly play for Banyule Bears in the Northern Football League, the home club of Stanton.
"If I can get one game (in the VFL) I'll be happy because if I can get one game, hopefully I can make an impression and play for the rest of the year," he explained.
If I can get one game I'll be happy ... hopefully I can make an impression.
- Kai Davies on his VFL goals for the season
Davies' versatility will certainly help his chances of breaking through at state level, while he's rarely beaten in a one-on-one contest.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The Bombers are away to Geelong in round one.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark https://www.bordermail.com.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @bordermail
- Follow us on Instagram @bordermail
- Follow us on Google News.