'Beep, beep': Richmond's Road Runner Robbie Nahas Jon Ralph
From: Herald Sun
May 28, 2011 WHEN Robbie Nahas' career reached a plateau last season, the Tiger rover decided it was time for actions to speak louder than words, writes Jon Ralph.
ROBBIE Nahas doesn't want a shred of complacency to enter his psyche, and you can understand why.
Back in 2009, when he was Richmond's best first-year player, AFL boss Andrew Demetriou sealed his status as a cult figure by gushing "R Nahaaaaaassss" on Brownlow Medal night.
Then the music stopped.
"I didn't play anywhere near good enough football to get close to a Brownlow vote last year," Nahas says.
"He must have been disappointed."
Think labels such as "flash in the pan", "VFL regular" and "career in crisis".
So now, just two months into the best season of his career, Nahas doesn't even really want to do an interview in case his astounding form slips away like last time.
Doesn't want to jinx the type of form that has some people labelling him the AFL's most improved player.
But, as it turns out, he is warm and engaging, happy to chart his rise and fall in the football cauldron.
"I thought last year it would just evolve after my first year, but you find out pretty quickly it's not how it works," he tells the Herald Sun.
"Last year this wasn't a good place for me. The AFL isn't a good place when you are not playing well.
"I wanted to be part of the team when we had that great patch of wins, and I wasn't, and it was all my fault because I wasn't playing well enough to be in the side. I got extremely complacent.
"I just thought things would roll on, that everything would continue from the previous years.
"I guess I learnt the hard way that it doesn't work like that."
Ten rounds into this season, Nahas, 23, is second at Richmond for tackles, third for marks and loose-ball gets, fifth for scoring assists and sixth for disposals and handballs.
He averages 20 touches, five tackles and a goal per game - career-best numbers.
What it adds up to is a player not just on the rise, but also determined to stay there.
If you haven't caught this week's Fox Sports promo for Richmond's clash against Port Adelaide, don't expect to hear about Brett Deledio or Trent Cotchin.
The commercial exhorts you not to miss Richmond's stars in Jack Riewoldt, Dustin Martin and (cue deep, booming voice) "Robbie Naaahaass".
But if the hype is building, Nahas knows he can't get ahead of himself again.
"I have only played nine games of consistent footy this year," he says. "It's not even half a season. It's absolutely nothing. Some guys play years of consistent footy."
So how did the former Oakleigh Charger, recruited from VFL team Port Melbourne, get his bounce and vitality back?
Four simple words from Tiger assistant coach Wayne Campbell.
"Wayne Campbell told me to enjoy the hard work," Nahas says. "I knew I could get extremely fit and so did (fitness coach) Matt Hornsby, and he pushed me hard and set some goals.
"It was hard to enjoy (the pre-season) but that stayed with me, and luckily enough I did end up enjoying it a bit.
"I just tried to stay with the top group - Daniel Jackson, Shane Edwards and Matt White - just sit on them.
"I couldn't early in the pre-season because they were fitter but, as it went on, I still couldn't catch Jacko and Whitey but I stayed with Shane and that helped me.
"I knew it was a make-or-break year. I had one year left on this contract, and I knew I wanted to be here. If I worked hard enough I could produce good footy."
Richmond forwards coach Danny Daly was with North Melbourne scrutinising prospective draftees when he first heard of Nahas.
Nahas had not done enough to push for selection with TAC Cup club Oakleigh - "Size had a bit to do with it, but I just wasn't good enough," 176cm Nahas says - but he was starring with Port Melbourne.
"We had a rookie pick three after him and we were looking at having him based on a midfield role," Daly says.
"He spent a lot of time at Port Melbourne as a winger, but we wanted to use him in that Aaron Davey role.
"Now footy has changed with the press and it gives small blokes a chance to run the lines. He has that lateral movement and he can ease through packs.
"Basically we are playing him as a high forward who gets up the ground and plays as a second winger who can run through the lines, find space, then work his way back inside 50m to equalise numbers and put pressure on in there."
Nahas is doing that with telling effect, all of it based on one elementary plan.
"It's pretty simple. I tell myself before every game - just run. Nothing else. It's all about work rate for me."
Nahas is one of 10 rookies on the Tigers' primary list, with more rookies successful in AFL football from 2001 than players picked above selection 40.
Daly says it is about the determination of VFL players and rookies to make up for lost time.
"They train two nights a week (in the VFL) and work or go to uni, and you never know how much upside they have in them.
"They understand hard work already. Some of the kids you draft at 40-plus think they have made it already and don't work as hard, and maybe that has something to do with it."
As well as that lift in intensity, Nahas spent the summer working on the clean ball-handling that makes good midfielders elite.
When it comes to elite speed he was already packing heat. Now he has all the weapons to sustain his improvement.
Nahas says he has finally found the balance between hard work and the right type of play. He admits he used to spend too much time at home on his mum's couch.
"I played a lot of PlayStation but I don't play it any more, which has helped. It's not banned, but Dimma (coach Damien Hardwick) said to me last year, jokingly, 'Mate, no more PlayStation'.
"Dimma is really big on balance outside footy and this year I have been doing a bit of property (work) and that makes things easier."
Richmond is playing winning football this year, making it a great place to be.
"Footy is a fun game when you win," Nahas says.
"We are a really tight-knit group and we spend a fair bit of time with each other away from footy and I think it shows. Most supporters would see we really care for each other."
Contract talks have already started for Nahas, but he won't even consider that as a security - there is too much to achieve this year, and too many traps he has fallen into before.
"I don't want to leave this club," he says. "It has given me my opportunity. I owe them a lot. Hopefully I can repay them with plenty of years of consistent football.
"I don't want to come in, have a little go and then say, 'See you later'. I want to stay and hopefully build towards a succesful era for the Richmond Football Club."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/beep-beep-richmonds-road-runner-robbie-nahas/story-e6frf9jf-1226064500876
