‘Domestique’ embraces grunt work in Suns’ tour de force
Cycling fan Alex Davies has likened himself to a domestique at the Tour de France — but the midfielder insists he can be a yellow jersey contender, too.
Admitting his sleep’s “been sucking” during the Tour de France, Alex Davies sheepishly felt like a domestique in his AFL return for Gold Coast.
A fan of Tadej Pogacar, who claimed a fourth Tour title on Sunday, the big-bodied Davies insists he can be the footballing equivalent of the Slovenian star and win his own ball.
The 23-year-old’s 30 touches and 10 tackles in the Suns’ historic 66-point defeat of the Brisbane Lions on Saturday showed that.
But it was the 191cm midfielder’s work on Josh Dunkley – designed to free Suns star Matt Rowell – that he was picked for.
And Davies delivered as a footballing domestique – French for servant – as best-on-ground Rowell finished with 37 touches, 15 clearances and 12 tackles.
“Domestique,” Davies offered with a laugh, when asked if he felt like a Suns hit-man or bodyguard.
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“My sleep’s been so bad, been sucking (while watching the Tour).
“But yeh, a big body … helping Rowelly. But I can get my own footy … I can play my own game; I know what I can do.”
Davies played just seven AFL games in Hardwick’s first year at the club in 2024 and had to settle for VFL domination this season until getting the call-up on Saturday.
The Suns’ midfield is stacked with Rowell, injured Touk Miller and captain Noah Anderson well supported by Bailey Humphrey and emerging trio Will Graham, Leo Lombard and Jake Rogers.
Contracted until the end of next season, Davies said he was “shocked” to read reports last week that he was open to an earlier move to a rival club for greater opportunities.
But, while insistent he was settled and happy at Carrara, the Cairns product didn’t deny it.
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“All my mates sent it to me and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’,” he said of the report.
“The job at hand is getting to finals because it’s a special opportunity we have right now and all I’m thinking about.”
Hardwick admitted Davies’ selection was partly a horses for courses approach against a Lions midfield that had overpowered his own in recent outings.
“The definition of insanity is … we didn’t want to be having the same conversation if we lost the same way,” he said, having also recalled Jy Farrar and Nick Holman.
“It’s taken me a bit of time to understand what that looks like against Brisbane.
“They all stood up … he’s (Davies) only starting to understand what he may be and get an understanding of where he can end up.”
With the Suns now on the cusp of a maiden finals campaign – and potentially a top-four finish – Davies may be cottoning on to what’s possible quicker than Hardwick realises.
“A win like that … it’s pretty big and beating Brisbane, it’s a big challenge,” he said ahead of Saturday’s clash with Richmond.
“If we can do that .. we can go anywhere.”
