Rookie Robin's need for speed
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen
3:14 PM Thu 12 February, 2009
SMALL, but lightning quick. Good eye for a goal. What's not to like?
Robin Nahas was selected by Richmond with its first pick at last year's NAB AFL Rookie Draft, but would have gone even earlier in the day if not for a certain B. Cousins taking the Tigers' only pre-season draft pick.
A stellar 2008 saw the 21-year-old clock the half-ton for Port Melbourne in the VFL, win the Frank Johnson Medal as Victoria's best player in the state game against the SANFL and also snare the VFL's Rising Star equivalent, the Fothergill-Round Medal.
The year was capped off when the Tigers took him at number eight overall in the rookie draft.
Nahas said his time at Port under coach Gary Ayres was the catalyst for selection into AFL ranks.
"Ayresy was really good to me this year – he played me as a small forward," he told richmondfc.com.au. "I kicked 50 goals this year, and I think most of it has to do with Gary and the way he coached – he played me to my strengths.
"It was good to get nominated and end up winning it (the Fothergill-Round Medal), but all year it was mainly due to the success of the team that let me come through.
"The better the team plays, the better the individual plays, especially if you're a forward.
"My asset is my leg speed – he played me up forward and [I was] pretty lucky."
Nahas has played in the midfield, but says his natural position is as a small forward.
"I'm definitely a forward – I really enjoy chasing and tackling, and it's the sort of thing that anybody can do, so it's a good thing to have.
"It's my consistency – I'm not there to get 20 touches a game – I'm there to chase and tackle and take my opportunities."
At 176cm and 67kg he's clearly in the smaller bracket, but he's lightning quick, another speedster in a club that is already blessed with pace, although he's not sure of the actual stats.
"I wouldn't have a clue – I haven't done any testing. I'm just a newbie, but a couple of the boys have said I'm as quick as they've seen.
"But Matty White and Daniel Jackson? They're elite – they're as elite as they come. (Jackson and White ran 10:02 and 10:03 respectively around Princes Park last week.)
"I'm very lucky to get a chance to play AFL football at my size, so I'm going to take it with both hands."
While the VFL has been a terrific environment to play in, Nahas said the opportunities to improve at the top level were much greater.
"You're playing football all week, and that's your job, so there's not outside influences where, in the VFL for instance, you work during the day, and then at five o'clock you go to training and you're a bit tired and not all there.
"But you come here, and you know 'this is what you've got to do', and you do it to the best of your ability every time you're here, because this is your job."
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