New Sun aiming to light the way

Brand new Gold Coast Sun Alex Davies wants to be a role model for multicultural athletes throughout his AFL career.

Gold Coast AFL Academy kids Joel Jeffrey, Alex Davies, Rhys Nicholls and Aiden Fyfe who will be taken by the Suns in the AFL draft on Wednesday. Photo: Scott Powick NEWSCORP.

BRAND new Sun Alex Davies wants to be a role model for multicultural athletes throughout his AFL career.

The Manunda Hawks junior was officially unveiled at Gold Coast on Wednesday morning and was added to the club’s primary list for the 2021 AFL season.

Academy selection Davies grew up in Cairns as the son of a Tasmanian-born father and a Japanese mother.

Gold Coast AFL Academy kids Joel Jeffrey, Alex Davies, Rhys Nicholls and Aiden Fyfe who will be taken by the Suns in the AFL draft on Wednesday. Photo: Scott Powick NEWSCORP

“I can speak a bit of Japanese to get around but I’m not fluent,” Davies said.

The connection between Asian-Australian footballers coming from FNQ and the Suns will not stop with Davies, with fellow promising junior Austin Harris, whose mother is from Thailand, waiting in the wings and likely to enter the system in the coming years.

The two AFL Cairns products are likely to inspire the next generation of multicultural footballers.

Gold Coast AFL Academy kids Joel Jeffrey, Alex Davies, Rhys Nicholls and Aiden Fyfe who will be taken by the Suns in the AFL draft on Wednesday. Photo: Scott Powick NEWSCORP

There have been other of AFL footballers from Asian backgrounds over the years, including Lin Jong, Daniel Kerr and Peter Bell, among others.

And, if the talented Davies’ career rolls out how many talent scouts believe it will, he is every chance to be the face of footballers with an Asian background in Australia.

“It is rare and I take a lot of pride in that,” Davies said.

“At the end of the day, you want to be one of the better footy players in the league instead of looking at it of me being diverse.

“I wanted to play footy, I never thought about being the odd one out while playing, I just wanted to go well. I want to be the best I can be.”

Harris, a Cairns Saints junior, has relocated to the Gold Coast and will come onto draft calculations later next year.

Alex Davies and Austin Harris.

He mentors the younger Harris.

They grew up together in FNQ and will often train together now that they have moved south.

“Hopefully I can call him a teammate in the coming years,” Davies said.

“He views me as a role model and we always push each other on the training track.”

Suns national recruiting manager Kall Burns said the club’s investment in the Academy program was providing pathways for talented juniors.

“Alex is a terrific example of the Gold Coast Suns Academy supporting the development of talented, exciting young players who wish to pursue careers in the AFL,” he said.

“Alex is a tall, strong-bodied midfielder who has really impressed us with his attitude and determination.

“He will be a great addition to our midfield mix.”

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ALEX DAVIES

■ Hailing from Cairns, Davies is a former under-16 All-Australian and represented Australia’s under -17’s in an ANZAC Day exhibition match in 2019.

■ Davies follows current players Jack Bowes (2016) and Caleb Graham (2018) in joining the Suns from Cairns.

■ The highly-touted AFL prospect will commence pre-season training from Thursday.

■ As part of the concessions the AFL provided to the Suns in late 2019, the club could promote Academy prospects to their list before the Draft.

Originally published as New Sun aiming to light the way