THE call he had been expecting finally arrived last Friday. But, if he is honest with himself, Nick Davis says he probably knew his time at the Swans was nearing an end as early as the pre-season.

It was coach Paul Roos on the line last week, telling Davis that he was no longer required at the club after 97 matches and six seasons, during which he admits he "probably pushed the boundaries of the club's 'no dickhead' policy a bit". Being out of contract and having played just three senior games, with most of the year spent running around in the seconds before a knee injury ended his season, the signs were there for all to see.

"I totally understand the club's decision," Davis said yesterday. "I had a fair indication a fair way out that was what they were going to do, and it didn't come as any shock at all."

Davis played the opening game this year before being dropped to work on his "pressure and tackling skills". He returned for two games when Barry Hall was suspended, but they would prove to be his last senior matches for Sydney. Asked yesterday when he realised he might be on the way out, Davis said: "Probably after round one."

"With some young blokes coming through, even during the pre-season I thought there was going to be a little pressure if I didn't perform early on, that I was going to be in trouble," he said.

"The way that Roosy and the club wanted to go with the team, it didn't fit my style of play. I did work hard on it, but I was always on a knife edge whether the attacking part of my game was good enough to keep me in the team and in the end it wasn't.

"I've played 10 years and if that's it, then well and good. But if not then I'll press forward somewhere else. I go into the pre-season draft and see what happens, but I do feel I've got plenty still to offer."

In so many ways, when it comes to the Swans, Davis was the square peg. They rely on everyone doing their job, working hard, tackling and piling on the pressure, and while he works on those areas, Davis is ultimately a player who is at his best when he is allowed to do his own thing. When he plays like that, he can win you a game.

Davis believes that is why his time at the Swans has sometimes been turbulent, and admits he could have easily been shown the door earlier. But he adds that if he was the pure Swans prototype, he might have already been retired.

"I think I was lucky I had a little bit of ability and that kept me here," he said. "A lot of people might think I would have regrets. I don't. 'If you had trained harder or if you didn't eat this or didn't do that', but in saying that if I had to train harder or watch my diet or done hours of yoga … I probably would have given up four years ago, because I couldn't stand that.

"People say you're not taking it seriously enough. I'm not Stewie Maxfield or a Brett Kirk, who is extremely intense about the game. I haven't thought I've travelled within myself, but I've had fun and always said if it's not fun I would probably give it away.

"Regardless of what the outer image is, I never gave up in any game, I've never not put in on the training track. I just did it in my own way and it might have come across that I didn't care, but if someone doesn't care, they don't last 10 years and sit through the hours and hours of meetings, and make the sacrifices you've got to make to be a footballer these days. I cared."

Ten seasons, three grand finals, one premiership, and four Tests for Australia, Davis says he has not missed out on anything, and has "ticked every box that most players would set out for themselves at the start of their careers".

And speaking now with Davis compared to a few years back, you can tell the 28-year-old's also ticked another box … maturity.

"I think I probably pushed the boundaries of the club's 'no dickhead' policy a bit, but I think I'm a better person now. Getting started at Collingwood, I think you get everything you wanted down there and you walk around Melbourne like you're the greatest person in town. I'm not that person any more.

"I've matured a bit and that has got to do with the club and a little bit with the Swans culture, and although it's totally opposite to the person I am, I've been able to find a good balance between being a kid and a larrikin and an idiot and being a good person.

"That's one thing that Roosy wanted when he started, to make people at the club better people and I'd have to say I'm one of those people."

■The Swans have taken the first steps towards re-signing Ryan O'Keefe, with Roos speaking with the forward about his future on Friday night. Having not been traded last week, O'Keefe must now decide whether to stay with Sydney or chance his luck in the pre-season draft.