Tuesday, 2pm. Of all the times to be meeting one of "The 34" for an interview, we had decided to schedule a catch-up at what turned out to be less than an hour after news of James Hird's exit from Essendon had emerged. Not to mention we were meeting at a cafe which is a five-minute drive from Windy Hill.
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Luke Davis could be angry at a whole range of people. He isn't. He doesn't attribute blame to anyone at the club. Certainly not to Hird, the man who drafted him from West Adelaide in late November 2010, and welcomed Davis and his family to the club. "James would have everyone over at his house, with partners, kids. He'd put on a big feed for everyone," Davis recalls.
Hird also had him within a whisker of an AFL debut in April 2012.
Essendon 2012. No club's activities over a single year have ever been subject to greater scrutiny. But each player had his own individual story during this time as well. It was Davis' second year at the Bombers. The first was always meant to be one of development. But when the 190-centimetre defender returned as one of the club's three fittest players, he quickly became a legitimate contender for a senior spot as a tagging option. "I came out all guns blazing," Davis recalls of that summer. He stopped future Brownlow medallist Matt Priddis in the NAB Cup opener, although in Davis' words, Fremantle speedster Stephen Hill "blew me out of the water".
Davis flew to the Gold Coast as the Dons' first emergency in round three, but was not called upon. The next day he flew back, and held Melbourne veteran Brad Green to just seven disposals in the VFL. Nine days later he was emergency again for Anzac Day. That weekend he stuffed his ankle, and missed the rest of the season.
He was given a contract for 2013, but his form was down. As the supplements saga took over Essendon's existence, Nick O'Brien took his spot in the midfield, and upon return to the back line, things didn't quite click. He was let go at season's end. He thinks he "never came close" to a senior game that season. By the time Davis was told the bad news, so much had befallen the club. It wasn't Hird who sent Davis on his way - the coach had already been suspended for a year for his role in the saga that to this day holds captive the Bombers, Davis, and the other 33 players whose fates rest in the hands of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Overcome by the emotion of being told his time was up, Davis couldn't finish his exit meeting at the end of 2013. "I sort of knew it was coming," he says.
"Looking back now, I probably wasn't up to that standard."
Davis came very close to returning to Adelaide last year, but decided instead to play at Aberfeldie, a club with a strong link to Essendon through former coach Mal Michael, current assistant coach Damien Peverill and football director Anthony Daniher. Such is the regard in which Davis is held, he was appointed co-captain in his second year at the club. "Abers" have lost the grand final two years in a row. This year they have started 17-0, and are aiming at their first premiership in 41 years. "Abers has been great to me, so I want to be great to them," Davis says. "[A premiership] would just mean so much to so many people."
It was also early in 2014 that he was sitting around in Adelaide with Cale McPherson - one of his best mates since year eight. McPherson is an architect turned graphic designer. The two often shot the breeze and came up with all sorts of ideas, and their latest one was a smart phone app which monitors the amount of time a person is spending on individual apps - a way of stopping the wasting of time on Facebook at work. "My mum would always comment on me always being on my phone."
From that, the concept of Trackology was born, and after a year of development, it came to life last month. "It tracks how much time you're spending and time spent on each particular app. You can set apps to 'productive or unproductive.' It doesn't tell you to stop, it just alerts you that you're being unproductive," Davis explains.
The app is available on Android and can be purchased in the Google Play Store. Apple has not been as accommodating. "I'm starting to think it's because they don't want people knowing how much time they're actually spending on their phone!" Davis is hopeful the app will prove a hit, but is playing things down. "I'm not counting all my chickens on Trackology."
Neither Davis nor McPherson have quit their jobs, with Davis continuing to work as a plumber. He also makes money from Aberfeldie, which would be jeopardised should WADA's appeal prove successful.
"If we get found guilty, I can't play for Aberfeldie. So the pressure of losing an income, is pretty scary," Davis says.
It's been more than just hypothetical. At the start of the season, while provisionally suspended before the AFL anti-doping tribunal case, Davis couldn't play trial games or the league representative game.
Up until a month ago, he had kept a close Essendon connection, living with current Bomber Michael Hibberd. Davis says that it felt like "us against the world in 2013", and thinks that the cumulative effect meant things had only got tougher for those still at the club. "To be continually attacked by the outside, it's sad. But I guess that's the way it goes." Despite the trauma, Davis is comfortable in the belief that the players never did anything wrong, and that the appeal will fail. He "can't wait" for it to be over. "No one's ever had to go through something like this."
As for his teammates, he believes they can reach great heights if or when they do finally play unencumbered. "I know how good they are, and how good they can be. It would be amazing to see them get through this and then do something special as a group. Because they deserve it more than anyone."
