Giant in push back at Buddy

GWS co-captain Phil Davis has added more spice to his rivalry with big Swan Lance Franklin by revealing the reason for his heated exchange with the Sydney spearhead late in their elimination final.

The pair were involved in a fiery push and shove in the last quarter at the SCG.

Davis, who kept Franklin goalless, said he was still upset with the circumstances surrounding the hip injury that ruled him out of the second half of the Round 22 clash with the Swans.

In that incident, Franklin nudged him into teammate Rory Lobb, leaving the Giant struggling to walk.

Davis felt his opponent tried to do it again on Saturday and was not pleased.

“I thought he tried to push me into a contest like he did a few weeks before and I wasn’t very happy about that,” he said.

“There was a bit of argy bargy after that.”

GWS set up a semi-final against Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday with the 49point win that ended Sydney’s season, 10.19 (79) to 4.6 (30).

Davis was best afield for his job on Franklin, with Toby Greene also outstanding with 27 possessions and three goals.

But the talking point on Greene was the re-emergence of his controversial, studs-up method of protecting his space in a marking contest.

He was fined last year for collecting Bulldog Luke Dahlhaus in the face with his outstretched leg and he employed the same tactic several times against the Swans.

“Toby’s protecting his space . . . it’s been around the game for many years,” Davis said.