Roosters bring AFL star out of retirement for Nines

Sydney Swans premiership-hero and Roosters staffer Nick Davis will come out of retirement at the age of 39 to make a historic cross-code appearance at the NRL Nines in Perth.

Davis will line up for the back-to-back premiers on February 14-15 as the first AFL player to take the pitch in the pre-season tournament, which the Roosters also won during its last edition in 2017.

The likes of Israel Folau and Karmichael Hunt have made high-profile switches from league to AFL but Davis is the biggest name to go the other way.

He will long live in Swans folklore for his role in their run to the 2005 title, booting the last four goals of a tense preliminary final win over Geelong in what is regarded as one of the club's seminal individual performances.

Davis is on the Roosters payroll as their kicking coach, but will pull on the boots  while the majority of Trent Robinson's top squad will be gearing up for their World Club Challenge defence in England the following weekend.

The former Swan grew up playing rugby league and regarded Cronulla's Andrew Ettingshausen as his childhood hero before being drafted by Collingwood where his father Craig forged a successful career.

While Davis's addition has been made to capitalise on Perth's strong-AFL market, both he and Robinson are confident he will be well equipped for the code switch, where Davis will wear the No.2 jumper and play primarily as a winger.

"I can catch and pass, but I can kick more than anything and that's what I'll be relying on," Davis said on Friday.

"I've always loved rugby league, growing up in Sydney it's part of your DNA.

"There was a time there when I would have liked to play rugby league, but the family tradition in AFL was the thing that changed me in the end."

Robinson plans to use the Nines as a chance to blood younger members of the Roosters set-up alongside "two or three senior players" while focusing his top side on their February 22 clash with St Helens in the UK.

Davis will begin ramping up contact work at Roosters training having joined the first grade squad in conditioning and ball skill sessions since early in the pre-season.

"Nick has been working with our outside backs here at the Roosters for a couple of years now so he knows our game and understands the way we play," Robinson said.

"He is a natural athlete with a will to win – and he loves a challenge, so we're looking forward to seeing him switch his Swans guernsey for a Roosters jersey.

"With the Nines being played in Perth, and the Roosters also taking an NRL game to Perth later in the year, we thought that this was a great opportunity to introduce our club to a new audience."

Official NRL Travel packages, including NRL Nine’s tickets, accommodation options and exclusive experiences with NRL Legends can be purchased via www.nrl.com/travel