CRAIG Davis, the father of maligned Swan Nick, said last night he had been hurt by the derogatory comments directed at his son by Carlton chief executive Greg Swann.

Davis snr, a former Carlton player, said he hoped the only winner to emerge from Swann's surprising verbal spray on Melbourne radio on Sunday was "Nick and his character".

Declaring on 3AW that Carlton wouldn't entertain the thought of trading for the out-of-favour Swan forward at season's end, Swann said Davis wouldn't be welcome "in a million years" at Princes Park. "I'd a bit to do with him in a past life. He's not a great bloke. We don't need him at our club."

Swann said his experience with Davis when both were at Collingwood would be more than enough to curb any interest from the Blues.

Davis snr said: "I'm disappointed Greg said what he did. I will say that. I'm a father and of course it hurts. The only winner in this will be Nick and his character, I hope, because he's been doing everything right.

"My father taught me a lot of things and one of them was if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all."

Davis snr, who worked for two decades for the AFL in NSW and now runs a football consultancy business and performs part-time work for the Swans, was hosting fans at Sydney's social club outside the SCG on Sunday and only later was made aware of Swann's criticisms.

"When people make comments about Nick they should think twice about what he's been through, with his injury and his toughest year. I'm very proud of Nick, he's my son and he's 28 years old now he's an adult, expecting his first child on Boxing Day. Physically I hope he comes back and mentally he has to come back from this one way or another."

Davis said his son would have surgery on an injured knee on Thursday and added that he strongly hoped he would remain at the Swans next season despite moves by the player's Sydney-based manager to offer his services in recent weeks to other clubs, including Carlton.

The bad blood between Sydney and Carlton also intensified yesterday when Swans coach Paul Roos hit back yesterday at Swann's public shaming of Davis.

While Davis is unlikely to play for the Swans again following a combination of poor form, the season-ending knee injury and off-field indiscretions, Roos leapt to his defence.

"I think that is inappropriate for a CEO of another footy club," Roos said. "To say that publicly is inappropriate and pretty poor. He is a good kid who wouldn't harm anyone. I'm very disappointed to hear Greg say that."

Roos said he had already directed club chief executive Myles Baron-Hay to speak to Swann about the comments.

"I have asked Myles to speak to Greg, because that is appropriate," he said.

"It's not a big issue for us, but I think we need to get that across. I wouldn't speak about a Carlton player like that."

Roos said he expected Swann would have the decency to apologise for the comments, adding: "I would have thought (he'd apologise). Obviously Greg has dealt with Nick in the past. If Greg had his time over again, I wouldn't have thought he would say something like that because Nick is a really likeable kid."

The comments from Swann came before Sunday's match between the two clubs, a hotly contested affair that resulted in the Swans overcoming a 29-point deficit to snatch a two-point victory.

Despite a tough run home, the win puts the Swans six points clear of fifth-placed Collingwood, and they will fancy their chances of keeping fourth spot in the race to September.

While Barry Hall remains in contention to play against Adelaide at the SCG on Saturday night, his availability after a club-imposed ban following two AFL Tribunal suspensions is subject to a decision by both Roos and club psychologist Grant Brecht. However, it will be hard for the Swans to ignore his claims after fellow key forward Michael O'Loughlin was ruled of the clash with an ankle injury, and Leo Barry's hamstring is still being closely monitored.

Without Hall and O'Loughlin, the Swans would be forced to play second-string pair Heath Grundy and Henry Playfair, both of whom struggled against the Blues.

Meanwhile, the man who some believe will be recruited to help solve the Swans' forward woes, Carlton's Brendan Fevola, has postponed contract talks with his club until season's end. "This is not about discussions not progressing; it is to enable Brendan to … perform at his best without the ongoing speculation about his playing future," his manager, Mark Kleiman of Velocity Sports, said yesterday.