Geelong players will have Bob Davis on their minds when they meet Carlton in Friday night's AFL clash.

The AFL Hall of Famer, whose 189-game playing career with the Cats included two premierships, before going on to coach their 1963 flag, died after a recent battle with illness on Monday night, aged 82.

Cats coach Chris Scott said the death of Davis, whose post-playing television career spanned more than four decades, had hit the current players hard.

Scott, who took over the Cats coaching job this season, said while he had not had the chance to get to know Davis well, the former Geelong captain was a good friend to much of the team.

"Bob spent a lot of time at the club I'm led to believe and got to know the players quite well on a personal level," he said.

"I'm loath to say it will change the way the players play this week, but it will be in all Geelong people's minds for this week and weeks to come.

"It's a horribly difficult situation for everyone at the club, Bob Davis was a legend of the club and it's all the more disappointing for me that I never got the chance to spend much time with him."

The Cats will wear black armbands against the Blues at Etihad Stadium and their pre-match banner will pay tribute to the club great.

Blues coach Brett Ratten said Davis's status was such that his death would affect the entire league, not just the Cats.

"It's a sad time for football in general, not just for Geelong," Ratten said.

"He was one of the great characters."

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said Davis was a rare man, in that just talking about him prompted a smile and he had never heard a bad word spoken about him.

Demetriou said he was one of many football fans who grew up watching Davis, along with fellow VFL greats Lou Richards and Jack Dyer, on television shows World of Sport and League Teams.

The AFL boss said the game's current broad media exposure was in part a tribute to the popularity of those characters.

"All of the footy shows you see around today all emanated from League Teams, talking about recipes of the week and just the banter about everything except the teams, they were funny nights," Demetriou said.

"That's what people of my age can vividly remember, because he brought a different dimension to football.

"Whilst we all love what's going on, on the field, there was a humour around and a humanness around football, people like Bobby and Lou and Jack Dyer brought it into our living rooms."

Demetriou said the league needed time before deciding how best to pay tribute to Davis.

Long-time Seven Network football producer Gordon Bennett, who worked with Davis on League Teams and World of Sport, said he was a natural performer.

"He didn't need a script, he didn't need make-up, and it didn't matter if the cameras were on or off," said Bennett.

"He was just good TV. He was funny and he made sense."

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu was among those to pay tribute, describing Davis as a legend of the sport, who was loved everywhere.

Ex-Geelong star and now Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett used Twitter to label Davis a "GFC all-time great", while current Cats player James Kelly described him as an "absolute legend of Geelong".

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