Davis, 18, was snapped up by the Crows with pick No.10 in last year’s NAB AFL Draft, but only started full training with the group last month.
The versatile tall injured his shoulder while representing South Australia in the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships in June and endured a slow recovery after undergoing a full reconstruction.
Last weekend, Davis returned to the field for the first time in almost eight months when he played two quarters of an internal trial with SANFL club North Adelaide.
“I didn’t have any setbacks, but I progressed a bit slower before I got to the club and I was probably about three weeks behind when I got here,” Davis told afc.com.au
“Since then, the club has been a bit more cautious making sure the strength is there and the range of movement is fine.
“It’s been a slower process than the usual six months out for a shoulder recon, but it’s better to be safe and at least it was in pre-season, so it should be nice and strong.”
Davis was kept out of contact drills during his rehabilitation. Instead, he spent his days working on his aerobic fitness with Physical Performance manager Stephen Schwerdt.
“There was a fair bit of running and leading involved and in the last few weeks we did a bit of wrestling,” he said.
“I did a bit of tackling and wrestling work with (Physical Performance analyst assistant) James Hanisch. It was a lot of game simulation work to help prepare me get back into playing games.”
Davis, unlike Adelaide’s other No.10 draft-pick, Patrick Dangerfield, has managed to avoid the limelight and public scrutiny in his first six months at the club.
The teenager said he didn’t feel any pressure associated with being a top-10 selection.
“I’ve had it pretty easy compared to Danger. I remember he was in The Advertiser almost every day last year,” Davis said with a laugh.
“I’ve been out of the media spotlight, being injured, which has been nice. There’s probably a bit more pressure internally, from myself, than from the media or anyone else.”
Coach Neil Craig has placed the same expectations on Davis as he has on Dangerfield and any other young player on the Crows’ list.
The 195cm, 85kg, key-position player has plenty or work to do in the gym, but Craig said Davis would get an AFL berth as soon as his performances warranted one.
“I understand our supporters and outsiders want to see these young guys and say, ‘Play them, we want to have a look’, but I think it’s bad policy just to have a look,” Craig said.
“Selection is based on performance and that’s why Patrick Dangerfield plays against Hawthorn this week.
“Patrick would’ve played irrespective of which players we rested.
“He earned a spot back in our team based on performance, just as Chris Schmidt did with an exceptional game last week for West Adelaide.”
Davis will play in a practice match against Port Adelaide at Alberton this weekend.
He said he would use the game to try and work his way back into form for the start of the SANFL season.
“I’d love to be playing AFL in the second-half of the year at some point, but realistically I’m not quite sure where I’m at,” Davis said.
“I’ll see how I go in the first few rounds. If I can play some good footy, Neil always says there are no expectations, so hopefully if I play good enough footy, I might get a go in the latter part of the year.”
