Disappointment of being dropped for 2020 WAFL grand final driving Borden’s Anthony Davis to win league flag

Claremont defender Anthony Davis says the disappointment of being dropped for the 2020 grand final has been a driving force in producing his best season at league level this year. Davis hails from the small country town of Borden and is preparing to play an important role in the back half as the Tigers look to upset West Perth and win the WAFL premiership at Leederville Oval on Saturday. The Tigers lost the 2020 decider to South Fremantle but Davis was the hard luck story, dropped after they won the second semifinal against the same opponent. He used the heartache to work harder for more league opportunities, and was part of the Tigers’ side that lost the preliminary final to the Bulldogs in 2021. Davis spent five games in the reserves at the start of this year before breaking into the league team in round eight, and he has not looked back. The 21-year-old has been reliable in the Tigers’ defensive unit across the finals series and feels ready to perform in his first league grand final. “It’s been a good little build-up and the boys are pretty stoked to be there,” Davis said. “This is my third year of seniors and I feel like I’ve been able to establish myself a bit. “A bit of maturity helped and I put on a bit of size in the pre-season. “Missing out in 2020, that has given me a lot of drive to be here. “I got dropped for the 2020 grand final which was a bit disappointing but I made sure when I got my opportunity this year that I took it.” Davis has played 14 league games this year, averaging 16.5 disposals and 3.7 marks, and hopes he can help play a role in nullifying the Falcons’ attack. “I’ve been doing the extra things at training which make a difference,” Davis said. “A focus has been working on my contested marking as well. “The back line this year has been pretty solid, and when Stevie Miller went down we were looking for a solution. “Housey (Timm House) has been exceptional coming back into defence, and Jye (Bolton) behind the ball is really working. “I’ll just try to shut my man down, and the focus the last few weeks has been to come across and help when your man is not in a good spot, so getting over to help Timm or Dec (Hardisty) out.” Davis won a colts premiership with the Tigers in 2019 and said the strong Great Southern flavour at the club would make flag success even sweeter on Saturday. “It would be awesome to win,” he said. “The colts flag in 2019 was an amazing feeling so I can’t imagine what it would be like to win a league flag. “That Great Southern group is really good. I’ve been at the club a while now and it’s good for the new boys that come in to see some familiar faces. “We catch up for dinner a couple of times during the year, the Great Southern boys, and hopefully we can get a flag and take it home to the Great Southern.” Davis said there would be a ‘fair turnout’ supporting No.18 in the big one, including his brother Lewis and his mum and dad and some schoolmates.