Lucky Robin Nahas has stolen Tiger hearts * Sam Edmund
* From: Herald Sun
* December 21, 2009 ANDREW Demetriou had reached Round 8 of this year's Brownlow Medal count when his vaudeville-style pronunciation of a particular surname sparked chuckles in the Crown Palladium ballroom.
"R. Naaaahaaas," Demetriou excitedly yelled. "Two votes."
When the TV broadcast then cut to footage of the next round's highlights, the AFL chief was overheard asking: "Did you like my Nahas?"
"I just heard he enjoyed saying my name," Nahas said.
"I like that, actually."
It's difficult to find anyone who doesn't like Robin Nahas.
How can you not admire a 22-year-old kid who has been made to fight for everything he has achieved in the game.
Too small, not good enough - Nahas has heard it all.
Winning last year's Fothergill-Round Medal as the best young player in the VFL finally broke down a door that had been shut for three years. After playing a starring role for Port Melbourne under Gary Ayres, Richmond decided to give the electrifying goalsneak a chance with its first pick in the rookie draft.
What came next was a debut season of enormous promise.
Despite missing a large chunk of pre-season because of groin problems, Nahas played 19 of 22 games, kicked 21 goals, ranked third for scoring contributions and won the club's best first-year player award.
The diminutive Tiger of Lebanese descent is not your typical young footballer.
You won't get him talking up his graduation to AFL.
"I just got lucky," is how Nahas explains it.
"Gary Ayres was just fantastic. He put me in a position where I had a chance to get drafted. He told me what areas I needed to work on, what area of the ground I should play and what role I needed to play."
His first training session at Richmond was watched by just a few more than the typical handful of Punt Rd diehards. It happened to coincide with the circus that was Ben Cousins' arrival.
"I've come in and there's thousands of people there. It was pretty surreal walking into that," Nahas said.
Suddenly the kid from Salesian College found himself beside the most talked-about bloke in the game, Tigers great Matthew Richardson and a coach who would be fighting a losing battle to save his career.
But any temptation for Nahas to get swept away with his new life was quashed by a normal home life. He lives with his mum Hiam, who moved to Australia from Lebanon 30 years ago, and brother Ronnie, 24, in an Oakleigh house where the door is always open.
"My mum loves having my mates over. They come over every day, it's like a halfway house and even when I'm not there they're there," he said.
"(Teammates) Shane Edwards and Daniel Connors were there having something to eat the other day and a truck load of my mates just came in, grabbed some food and went to watch TV in the other room and they were like, 'What's going on here?'
"I'm lucky I've got a really close group of mates that I'm always around and they take my mind off football. Actually, they don't know too much about football to be honest."
Outside the game Nahas is your typical 22-year-old male who loves his PlayStation.
Soccer game FIFA 10 and war epic Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2 occupy Nahas' time away from the club as he does battle with opponents from across the globe over the internet.
"I do play a bit of PlayStation," he said. "I play a bit too much I get told. My mates say I'm addicted and that I've got a problem."
He certainly doesn't have a problem finding the footy.
This year's Round 4 clash against Melbourne at the MCG saw Nahas gather 12 disposals, four marks, lay four tackles and kick his first goal.
But more importantly, his second game told him he could survive at AFL level.
"Against Melbourne I laid a couple of tackles, my defensive side of the game was up and I think it just went from there. I just felt a bit more comfortable," Nahas said.
But he claims good fortune. "I think I got a bit lucky with the opportunity at Richmond this year," he said.
"Obviously I fitted a need as a small forward and at the time we didn't really have any and I got an opportunity when I probably didn't warrant it."
Nahas was rewarded with elevation to the senior list at last month's national draft and is determined to prove season No. 1 was no fluke.
He has added strength and size - now topping the scales at 71kg compared to 63kg 12 months ago - on his way to repaying the faith.
"I've just got to make sure I don't slack off now," he said.
And he says coach Damien Hardwick has already left his mark on the players.
"He's been fantastic so far. The whole coaching staff has been extremely positive with the group," Nahas said.
"I think it's just about continuing to enjoy it. I don't go out there with any great expectation. I just go out there and try to have as much fun as possible."
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