PHIL Davis will be the most inexperienced AFL captain in 80 years when he is today sworn in as one of the inaugural captains of the GWS Giants.
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The 21-year-old former Adelaide defender will be given the honour of leading the AFL's newest club despite having played just 18 games. Davis is expected to share the captaincy with at least one other player, with former Western Bulldogs midfielder Callan Ward a likely candidate.
The AFL's highest-paid player, $2 million-a-season recruit Tom Scully and ex-Brisbane Lions triple premiership player Luke Power are also believed to be in the mix.
Giants coach Kevin Sheedy said this month that the club would appoint co-captains.
Davis was the first uncontracted player to announce he was joining the Giants last season, much to the disappointment of the Crows.
The former Canberra student enters illustrious company with the appointment, equalling AFL Hall of Famer Haydn Bunton snr, as having played the least amount of games before earning an ascension to the top job.
Bunton took over the captaincy of Fitzroy in 1932 before going on to become one of the game's all-time great players, kicking 209 goals in 119 games, winning three Brownlow medals and given legendary status in the AFL Hall of Fame.
Davis joined the Giants on a lucrative five-year deal after spending the past two seasons with the Adelaide Crows. Last month he received the coveted No. 1 jersey in a sign he was being seriously considered as the Giants' captain.
''Obviously [the captaincy] would be a huge honour, and if that happened it would be great, but there's a lot of water to go under that bridge,'' Davis said at the time.
''At Adelaide, there were some great leaders like Simon Goodwin and Andrew McLeod, but there are 25 to 30 18-year-olds here. I aspire to be a good leader and it has definitely put me under pressure to set an example.''
The Giants have only a handful of players over the age of 23 on a list built with long-term success at the forefront. Age is becoming less of a barrier for captaincy.
At 20 years and 154 days old, Melbourne midfielder Jack Trengove recently became the youngest captain in VFL/AFL history after being named with Jack Grimes as co-captain of the Demons for 2012. The previous youngest was North Melbourne legend David Dench, at 20 years and 221 days.
Davis will lead the Giants for the first time when they play the round robin against Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs in the opening round of the NAB Cup on Saturday night.
