Swans champion flags full-time switch in NRL after leaving AFL club after 15 years
He famously kicked four-straight goals in the final quarter as the Swans beat Geelong in an iconic semi-final that year, before their win over West Coast in the decider. Since retiring in 2008 he's held numerous coaching roles at the Swans (starting in 2010), and was previously a runner for the AFL club.
He's been a specialist skills coach for the men's team, and also helped the women's team as an assistant. But with Dean Cox entrenched as the men's head coach and Scott Gowans leading the women's team, Davis feels his time at the club has run it's course.
"After 15 years coaching at the Sydney Swans, I've made the call to move on," he wrote on social media this week. "I've coached across every level and am proud to have helped build culture, set the standard, and bring success to the club. I'm excited and looking forward to what's next……..Thanks for the memories."
Nick Davis could make full-time switch to NRL coaching
Elaborating on SEN radio on Wednesday, the 45-year-old flagged a potential full-time switch to the NRL. Davis has worked as a kicking and catching coach at the Sydney Roosters for a number of years, and also played for the club at the defunct NRL Nines event in 2020. He also works with the NSW Waratahs women's team in the SuperW.
"It's been something that's been building up since the start of this year," he said. "I've had a variety of roles at the Swans and I've probably just hit my head on the ceiling a little bit. There was probably only two spots to go into, but obviously Coxy is the coach of the men's and Scotty Gowans is the coach of the women's.
"The club have always been really good to me in terms of some of the other roles I have with other codes. At the start of the year I took some time off to sort of work out what I wanted to do with the next part of life and coaching. It's an opportunity to expand some of my other roles that I do across some of the other codes."
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Davis didn't go into detail about what the future might hold, but hinted at taking on a larger role with the Roosters in the NRL. He's had a part-time role with the TriColours for a number of years, but could be set for a more permanent code switch.
"Having some time off from the Swans has allowed me to up my time at the Roosters and have a bit of success there in a few areas over the last month," he said. "My biggest job today is putting up some bombs for Ted (James Tedesco). There's a few conversations going on and I'm definitely excited to expand some of the roles I've been doing at the Roosters."
Davis revealed he worked with Hugo Savala in the Sydney Swans' academy before the youngster switched codes and signed with the Roosters. Savala has been a revelation in 2026, with many calling for the Roosters to backflip on their plans to sign Daly Cherry-Evans so Savala can remain in the halves.
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