How mum's advice and a playful joke convinced LDU to stay after meeting Saints

Luke Davies-Uniacke poses during North Melbourne's official team photo day at Arden Street on February 21, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

LUKE Davies-Uniacke had it coming from all angles. From supporters asking when he was signing on, from his mum saying he couldn't leave North Melbourne. Roos co-captain Jy Simpkin also threw in his opinion – and a warning.

"We had a couple of funny conversations around the club about if I did go to a different club they'd want to kill me out there. Jy said he would line me up straight away so that was funny," Davies-Uniacke told AFL.com.au.

"There's maybe eight guys as a core group I've been with around here for a long time and that cemented my decision. I could not see myself playing against them."

Davies-Uniacke made official last week what clubs had known for some time, that he was keen to stay at North Melbourne and ignore rival free agency offers. He penned a seven-year deal through to the end of 2032, seeing the Roos lock in one of the high-demand players of the competition.

Davies-Uniacke revealed for the first time why he had pledged his future to North, saying he had been going back and forth on offers for many months with the club and that the Roos' win against Melbourne in round two and even the following week's loss to Adelaide had solidified his view the club had turned a corner.

"I just had to make the right choice. It's a deal and an offer that is going to last me – hopefully not to the end of my football career, hopefully there's a couple more years after that – but it was a very serious contract and a serious thing to think about so I wanted to make sure we got all the details right," he said.

"A lot of it was off the back of the Dees game. But even after the Crows game I thought we were heading in the right direction, we were playing some good football against some pretty good sides at the start of this year.

"I felt really confident in the group and where the system's at and what 'Clarko's' (coach Alastair Clarkson) bringing to us. I probably decided after the Crows game that we've turned a bit of a corner here which is great. I decided then and it was really just 'How quickly can we get this done?'."

He wanted to see some games early in the year to make sure of it. Last year's best and fairest winner is into his eighth year at the club after being the No.4 pick at the 2017 draft, and has played in 22 wins from 113 games.

"The factors I probably had to convince myself of were that I didn't want to be catfished into thinking we'd be going somewhere really quickly because of how I could see where we were in the pre-season. There's been a couple of pre-seasons in a row where we're feeling really good, we've brought new guys in and it hasn't worked out," he said.

Luke Davies-Uniacke in action during the R4 match between North Melbourne and Sydney at Marvel Stadium on April 5, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

"Like last year we had a really good pre-season but we started 0-11. It can be a bit of a catfish look and it was probably the first time in my career where I've had to think about myself and be a bit selfish in that sense and really look at the group and see where I felt this was going to go. It just came down to a bit of trust with the guys."

Not that he didn't consider his options. He revealed he had met with St Kilda ahead of the season, while other clubs also showed significant interest as they chased the explosive, game-breaking midfielder every flag aspirant needs.

"I'm happy to be honest because it's all said and done now. I did meet with the Saints before the season started and it was more just doing my due diligence and hearing what they had to say," he said.

"It was a really humbling experience this whole process and what they had to offer, and I have no doubt they'll get to where they need to be whenever that is. That was super humbling to hear from them but in the end I just couldn't see myself wearing other colours."

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Being one of the game's hottest free agents led to rife speculation on his future and debate about his worth, which became a challenge for a player who isn't as naturally keen on the media spotlight as others.

"The worst part is when fans are always asking you to sign and I always feel so bad, I can't really give them information because it will get out. I really hated not telling them what the go was. I hated those things. I felt like the last thing I wanted was for the playing group to lose trust in me and I didn't want to be someone who let it linger and it affected the playing group. I could not think of anything worse. Even though the first few weeks it was still under a cloud it was early in the season and everyone is feeling really good," he said.

He had his biggest fan in his ear already. His mum, Cath, was pushing him to re-sign sooner with the Kangaroos, with the pair often reflecting on what Davies-Uniacke's father, Peter, would have been thinking about the decision facing his son. Peter died in 2021 after a battle with illness, but is always in Davies-Uniacke's mind.

"Mum was in my ear the most saying 'Luke, you can't leave! What are you doing holding off!?' and always asking me those questions," Davies-Uniacke said.

"She's been awesome and is someone who always has my back. She was really resilient in the way she always thought about my dad and how proud he would be for me to be in this position.

"I think his messages would have been you just have to make the right choice. He would have put it on my decision and would've had a couple inputs here and there but I have no doubt he would have said 'Mate, it's your decision'. It only sucks now because he obviously doesn't get to see how I've become as a player or how we're going to become as a team but you just know that he's watching above you and will be there.

"Mum, I and a couple of other family members were a bit sad about it when we made the decision, and not about staying at North, but about what he's missing out on."

The LDU family (L-R): Peter, Cath and Luke Davies-Uniacke. Picture: NMFC.com.au

Part of the pride comes in what the deal means for his life. Davies-Uniacke's commitment with North is the biggest deal in the club's history, worth more than $1.3 million a season, and makes him one of the best paid players in the game. He said it added responsibility, not pressure.

"It's just a whirlwind the money and you don't really understand it's life-changing stuff and it's hard to comprehend the stuff that's been talked about with the money. You just sit back and be thankful," he said.

"That's what I'm thinking about all the time now – like, how grateful am I to be in this position when North can pay me X amount and do what I love every day. To be honest it only makes me drive the younger guys more because if they see me as this player who is earning X amount, then I put myself in my own shoes back in the day looking at guys who were on the bigger pay cheques and that's where I am and want to invest more."

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Davies-Uniacke is sure the best is just about to come. North Melbourne hosts Carlton in its annual Good Friday clash this week, with Davies-Uniacke believing the Blues are "gettable", and he is adapting to more faces around the ball to start his season and how Clarkson wants him to be playing. The Roos are 1-4 but he sees the jump coming in 2025.

"I'd love to be challenging this year. That's the goal," he said.

The 25-year-old is also hopeful his signing can make Arden Street a destination for other big names.

"That was some of the conversations with (president) Sonja [Hood] and (football boss) Toddy [Viney] around the club and thinking about my decision," he said.

"I feel like I'm pretty well respected around the league, as in most teams tag me or have a guy come to me, and that was the other side of the contract where I thought if I sign, potentially I can influence other players around the league that this is happening and the talent's there.

"I feel like a lot of players who go to clubs want to be in premiership contention and if we had a group of core guys and I was the last one who still had clouds over, that could influence someone. Everyone knows we have the talent it's just making it work on the field now."

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