A SANFL move from a half forward flank to a wing for Ben Davis in his third year at the Crows eventually led to a debut, where he posted seven touches and was dropped. He averaged 16 touches and three inside 50s in the reserves. Davis is the sort of flank player who needs to dominate possession at the lower level to push his way into the senior team. It appears, at this late stage, that he is unlikely to find enough of the ball to do that, so he can be safely left in the free agent pool.
Don't bend arm for Davis
A SANFL move from a half forward flank to a wing for Ben Davis in his third year at the Crows eventually led to a debut, where he posted seven touches and was dropped. He averaged 16 touches and three inside 50s in the reserves. Davis is the sort of flank player who needs to dominate possession at the lower level to push his way into the senior team. It appears, at this late stage, that he is unlikely to find enough of the ball to do that, so he can be safely left in the free agent pool.
Continuity key for Davis
The best thing to note about Ben Davis's 2018 is that he played every week, kicking 22 goals from 18 games for the Crows' SANFL side after recovering from stress fractures in his feet the year before. That may not seem much, but the team went 1-17 and he finished fourth in the club B&F
after winning the team goalkicking. There is obviously a lot of opportunity in the Crow forward line with Charlie Cameron gone and Eddie Betts in twilight, as the team used converted mids to fill one pocket last season. Davis' body shape suits a flanker role in the seniors, but they need a pressure forward not a speccy taker so he might have to watch Bryce Gibbs or Hugh Greenwood in the spot he wants in 2019.
Mess of stress for Davis
Overlooked in his first draft-eligible year due to foot stress fractures, Ben Davis was picked up by Adelaide with pick 75 only to miss most of last season with more foot problems. He returned for six late SANFL games, booting three of his four goals in the last round. Davis might show a bit in the JLT as he competes for the vacant forward spot left by Charlie Cameron with the likes of Wayne Milera and Ben Jarman. Stress fractures can recur at any time, so drafting him in a low-scoring role would be too risky.
