THERE was extra reason for national recruiting manager Barry Prendergast to smile on draft day, when he selected Troy Davis at No.50.

You see, Melbourne’s third pick also hails from the same country Victorian town as Prendergast: Kerang.

But Prendergast assured all that there was no favouritism in choosing Davis.

"I’m very excited, but there is no bias there - we picked them where they were," Prendergast said with a smile on draft night.

But Davis, who was drafted from Geelong Falcons, actually moved from Kerang to further his football.

As he explains, "I played my junior footy there [in Kerang] and my first senior game and it wasn’t until I moved and went to boarding school, doing year 11 and 12 at Geelong Grammar," Davis said.

"The family was still in Kerang when I was in year 11 and they made the move to Sunbury to be a bit closer."

Judging on Davis’ credentials, Prendergast made a shrewd call.

A tall, quick defender, Davis is strong in the contest and can take a big mark. He is also a good spoiler and plays with purpose.

A clean mark and good below knees, Davis is a hard nut who is a genuine competitor and doesn’t get overawed by the occasion.

Quite simply, he is a country lad with a hard edge. In time, he could play on the monsters up forward, while he can already play on quick, mid-sized forwards.

Davis grew up a Hawthorn supporter and a massive fan of Luke Hodge.

But he was rapt when he the first Melbourne player to make contact with him was Aaron Davey.

"Aaron Davey rang me up, because he knows a bloke from back home in Kerang, so he was the first one to ring me up and congratulate me," he said.

"That was unreal hearing from him, so it’s really exciting.

"When I came in, he was one of the first blokes to talk to me and we had a good conversation, so that was pretty nice of him."