Leon Davis (born 17 June 1981) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). Originally from Northam,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, Davis played for Perth before being drafted by Collingwood in the 1999 National draft. He made his senior debut for the club in 2000, and went on to play in

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

losses in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. Playing mainly as a

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

, Davis was selected in the

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

in 2009, having won the Goal of the Year award the previous season. He was awarded a premiership medallion in 2010, having played in the drawn 2010 AFL Grand Final before being dropped for the replay that Collingwood won; however, he is not officially considered a premiership player by the AFL. In 2011, Davis switched to a role as a rebounding defender, and he was again named in the All-Australian team. He left the club at the conclusion of the 2011 season to return to play for

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

in the WAFL. Throughout his career, Davis became a cult figure of sorts amongst Collingwood supporters, and he was widely known by the nickname "Neon Leon" due to his exciting style of play, although he did not particularly like the nickname himself.

Background and junior career

Davis, of Aboriginal heritage, played his junior football for the Railways Football Club in the Avon Football Association (AFA) and the

Perth Football Club The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in Lathlain, Western Australia, Lathlain, Western Australia, currently playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). R ...

in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

. He was drafted to the

by the

in the 1999 AFL National draft with a second-round selection (No. 34 overall).

AFL career

Davis won regular selection at Collingwood early in his career, playing almost forty games in his first two seasons. Playing as a small forward, Davis averaged almost a goal a game over this time. He played 23 matches and kicked 31 goals during the 2002 season, and he played in Collingwood's 2002 grand final loss against the Brisbane Lions, although he failed to register a possession in the match. Davis went through a form slump late in the 2003 season, and he missed the second half of the season (although he returned for the preliminary final), but he returned to form in 2004, playing 19 games for 23 goals. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, Davis played his 100th game, becoming the first Aboriginal player to do so for the Collingwood Football Club. After six years playing exclusively as a small forward, Davis moved further up the field in 2007, playing some time in the midfield; however, he still managed 29 goals in the forward-line. In 2008, Davis came 4th in the Copeland Trophy, Collingwood's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award, and represented the Dream Team in the AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match. Davis also won the AFL's Goal of the Year for a solo effort in Round 22 against : he tackled and dispossessed

Des Headland Desmond John Headland, Jr (born 21 January 1981) is a retired Australian rules footballer, Following on from his AFL career he continued on finishing his playing career for Subiaco in the West Australian Football League. He was also a former c ...

on the half-forward flank, paddled and gathered the ball near the boundary line, ran inside 50 on the boundary line, and hit a low and hard kick from a tight angle for a goal. Davis continued to divide his time between midfield and forward line, and he had a very strong year in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, earning

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

selection as a forward pocket for the season. His form waned slightly during the 2010 season. Davis played all but one match during the home-and-away season, but he was injured for Collingwood's preliminary final. He returned for the drawn grand final, kicking a vital goal in the final quarter but otherwise having a quiet game, and was dropped for Collingwood's win in the grand final replay the following week. Despite being awarded a premiership medal for his role in the drawn game, Davis is not considered a premiership player by the AFL. In 2011, Davis was moved into the backline. He was very successful in this role, and he received his second career selection in the

and a fifth placing in the Copeland Trophy. Davis left Collingwood at the end of 2011. Davis has not confirmed the exact reason for his departure, but it is known that he was offered a 30% pay cut at the end of 2011, despite his All-Australian season, and it is known that he had previously expressed a desire to return with his family to Perth. He nominated for the draft but was not selected, and went on to sign a two-year contract to play for his former WAFL side,

, in 2012 and 2013. Davis was a specialist at the banana kick shot at goal, which has earned him several nominations for "Goal of the Year", although his Goal of the Year victory in 2008 was not from such a kick. Whether rightly or wrongly, Davis also gained an undesirable reputation for not being able to perform in finals, particularly grand finals; despite being a premiership player in 2010, Davis played in four grand finals for three losses and a draw throughout his career. In the 2011 grand final against Geelong, he gave Collingwood a lot of run of half-back and tackled well.

Statistics

: , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 15 , , 11 , , 8 , , 78 , , 35 , , 113 , , 20 , , 24 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 5.2 , , 2.3 , , 7.5 , , 1.3 , , 1.6 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 18 , , 21 , , 12 , , 106 , , 25 , , 131 , , 32 , , 16 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 5.9 , , 1.4 , , 7.3 , , 1.8 , , 0.9 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 23 , , 31 , , 19 , , 191 , , 48 , , 239 , , 55 , , 53 , , 1.4 , , 0.8 , , 8.3 , , 2.1 , , 10.4 , , 2.4 , , 2.3 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 13 , , 18 , , 11 , , 85 , , 29 , , 114 , , 23 , , 18 , , 1.4 , , 0.8 , , 6.5 , , 2.2 , , 8.8 , , 1.8 , , 1.4 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 19 , , 23 , , 13 , , 162 , , 45 , , 207 , , 54 , , 41 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 8.5 , , 2.4 , , 10.9 , , 2.8 , , 2.2 , , 3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 12 , , 11 , , 11 , , 119 , , 50 , , 169 , , 46 , , 20 , , 0.9 , , 0.9 , , 9.9 , , 4.2 , , 14.1 , , 3.8 , , 1.7 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 15 , , 23 , , 14 , , 150 , , 51 , , 201 , , 48 , , 24 , , 1.5 , , 0.9 , , 10.0 , , 3.4 , , 13.4 , , 3.2 , , 1.6 , , 2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 24 , , 31 , , 21 , , 250 , , 50 , , 300 , , 60 , , 103 , , 1.3 , , 0.9 , , 10.4 , , 2.1 , , 12.5 , , 2.5 , , 4.3 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 22 , , 32 , , 21 , , 297 , , 85 , , 382 , , 101 , , 73 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 13.5 , , 3.9 , , 17.4 , , 4.6 , , 3.3 , , 6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 23 , , 35 , , 24 , , 351 , , 120 , , 471 , , 109 , , 96 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 15.3 , , 5.2 , , 20.5 , , 4.7 , , 4.2 , , 10 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 20 , , 27 , , 26 , , 169 , , 74 , , 243 , , 57 , , 73 , , 1.4 , , 1.3 , , 8.5 , , 3.7 , , 12.2 , , 2.9 , , 3.7 , , 2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 21 , , 7 , , 8 , , 339 , , 123 , , 462 , , 89 , , 78 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 16.1 , , 5.9 , , 22.0 , , 4.2 , , 3.7 , , 4 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 225 ! 270 ! 188 ! 2297 ! 735 ! 3032 ! 694 ! 619 ! 1.2 ! 0.8 ! 10.2 ! 3.3 ! 13.5 ! 3.1 ! 2.8 ! 27

Controversy

Davis was involved in a controversial incident involving a racial slur in 2005, when 3AW radio commentator Rex Hunt called Davis 'as black as a dog' during the call against Essendon midway through the season. Hunt made the comment when he trailed off while saying "Neon Leon hasn't lit up tonight; he's as black as a dog's guts in the night", to describe Davis' poor form in that match in terms of a neon lights metaphor; other members of the commentary team had been using different neon lights metaphors in the same context. Hunt's apology to Davis was initially rejected, and it was only accepted later in the week after a face-to-face meeting.

References

External links

Leon Davis at the Collingwood Football Club website
* * *
Leon Davis
at FinalSiren.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Leon 1981 births All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club premiership players Living people Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Indigenous Australians from Western Australia Sportspeople from Northam, Western Australia Perth Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players