Patrick Naish


Patrick Naish is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League. He was drafted by Richmond with the 34th pick in the 2017 AFL national draft and made his debut for the club in round 12 of the 2019 season. He is the son of former and forward Chris Naish and was drafted to Richmond under the father-son rule.

Early life and junior football

Born in January 1999, Naish is son to former and forward Chris Naish who was playing his final AFL season at the time of Patrick's birth. Naish grew up in the northern suburbs of Melbourne and first represented Victoria at the Under 16 AFL championships in 2015.
In 2016 Naish began playing representative football with the Northern Knights in the TAC Cup. While attending high school at Ivanhoe Grammar School he played for the school's representative side and local football with the school's lower division alumni sides. That year he earned selection the Victorian Metropolitan squad, but did not manage selection to the final team at the 2016 AFL Under 18 Championships.
Naish was a member of the AFL Academy in 2016 before becoming just one of 30 players in his age group to join the more advanced program in 2017. Under that program he traveled to the USA on a training trip with his Academy classmates and trained for two weeks with Richmond's senior AFL team during the 2015/16 and 2016/17 off-seasons. Naish spent significant additional time around the club in his junior years, completing weights training and receiving coaching due to his father-son rule draft eligibility. He earned selection to the Victorian Metro side at the 2017 AFL Under 18 Championships and was named in Metro's best players in three of his four matches, including against Victoria Country in June where he was among his side's best players with two goals, nine marks and 24 disposals. He held an average of 21.8 disposals per game and led all players for average metres gained while playing wing and half-back. For his performances, Naish earned selection in the under 18 All-Australian team. In school football that year Naish kicked three goals for Ivanhoe in a losing Associated Grammar Schools grand final loss to Marcellin College. At the end of 2017 Naish played in an under 18s all-star match on the MCG as curtain-raiser to that year's AFL grand final.

AFL recruitment

Naish was noted pre-draft for his running ability and his kicking skills. He completed only limited testing at the 2017 AFL draft combine after suffering a back spasm.
At various stages of his draft year Naish was projected by media outlets including ESPN as a top 20 pick in the 2017 draft. In the days immediately prior to the draft, AFL Media projected him to be selected with the 27th pick while ESPN forecast him to be drafted 25th overall.

Junior statistics

TAC Cup
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2016
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2017
! colspan=3| Career
! 17
! 15
! —
! 177
! 132
! 309
! 65
! 39
! 0.9
! —
! 10.4
! 7.8
! 18.2
! 3.8
! 2.3

AFL career

2018 season

Naish was drafted by with the club's fourth pick and the 34th selection overall in the 2017 AFL national draft after the club used its father-son rule rights to match a bid by.
He spent the early months of his AFL career building muscle to add to his slender frame. Naish's first matches at Richmond were played with the club's reserves side in the VFL where he immediately impressed with his kicking skills. While lauded for his offensive abilities, VFL head coach Craig McRae demanded Naish develop his defensive capabilities by playing primarily in a half back role at that level. He showed considerable defensive progress in early July, taking seven marks and contributing 21 disposals in a VFL match against. Naish backed that up with a goal and 26 disposals the following week and a further 32 disposals the next match after that, earning selection as an AFL-level emergency in round 19. Though he could not earn final AFL team selection, Naish continued his impressive VFL form that weekend, collecting 26 disposals in a win over. He was again an AFL emergency in round 20 and again went unselected, but saw his VFL form drop off in early August. After finishing the VFL season as minor premiers, Richmond's reserves side lined up a home qualifying final against Williamstown. After a loss in that match, Richmond's reserves side suffered a knock-out loss the following week which saw the team and Naish's season come to a close. Naish finished 2018 having failed to earn an AFL debut and instead played 20 games and kicked six goals with the club's reserves side in the VFL.

2019 season

After adding nearly eight kilograms of muscle in the off-season, Naish began 2019 again with the club's reserves side, earning immediate praise from VFL assistant coach Ryan Ferguson for his defensive improvements in early April. He was consistently among the club's best players at VFL level in the opening month of the season, regularly recording more than 25 disposals a game in his role at half-back and the wing. In early May he kicked four goals in a VFL win over, with Ferguson saying he was ready for an opportunity at AFL level. Continued strong performances with high disposal counts over the next month and a further two goals and 28 disposals in early June saw Naish in line for an AFL debut. He was at that time averaging 25.9 disposals per match in the VFL. After winger Brandon Ellis was ruled unfit to play due to a groin injury, Naish was called up to AFL level to make his debut in round 12 of the 2019 season. He was impressive in the role, kicking a goal and recording 20 disposals, five marks and five inside-50s. Naish earned one more match at senior level, collecting 19 disposals in a performance AFL Media labelled admirable, before being dropped back to VFL level following the injury return of many of the club's veteran leaders after the mid-season bye. At reserves level, Naish turned in middling performances while developing his defensive prowess over three weeks as a half-back, before switching back to the wing in the last week of July and putting in a best-on-ground performance with 33 disposals, nine marks and a goal. He continued to excel in that role through the end of the home and away season, finishing the regular season as the reserves team's leader in total disposals, uncontested possessions and inside-50s and placing seventh in the VFL's league best and fairest count. To that point he held averages of 25 disposals, five marks and 4.5 inside-50s per game in 15 reserves grade matches. In the opening round of the VFL finals series, Naish contributed 11 disposals in a come-from-behind qualifying final win over the reserves. He added a two-goal haul in the preliminary final a fortnight later, as Richmond's reserves won through to that league's grand final. Naish kicked one more goal in the Richmond VFL side that defeated the following week, as the club won its first reserves grade premiership since 1997. Naish finished 2019 having played two matches at AFL level, as well as winning a VFL premiership after 18 matches and 13 goals with the club's reserves side.

2020 season

In the 2019/20 off-season, Naish switched guernsey numbers, adopting the number six previously worn by his father Chris and recently vacated by the retiring Shaun Grigg. He was named by AFL Media as a potential replacement for the wing role left by the off-season departure of Brandon Ellis, and assumed the role in the club's first pre-season series match. He missed out on the second and final match however, and instead participated in a VFL practice match in the first week of March. It was to be his final competitive match in many months though, as the following week's reserves match was cancelled due to safety concerns as a result of the rapid progression of the COVID-19 pandemic into Australia. Though the AFL season would start on schedule later that month, just one round of matches was played of the reduced 17-round season before the imposition of state border restrictions saw the season suspended for an indefinite hiatus. Naish was a non-playing emergency when the season resumed after an 11-week hiatus, playing an unofficial scratch match against 's reserves that same week due to AFL clubs' withdrawal from the VFL season.

Playing style

Naish plays as a wing and half-back, notable for his running ability and long kicking. His offensive game is advanced, with Naish described by Richmond's VFL coaches in 2019 as having elite ball-use skills, but still developing his ability to win contested possession and to play defensively.

AFL statistics

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2018
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2019
! colspan=3| Career
! 2
! 1
! 0
! 25
! 14
! 39
! 9
! 4
! 0.5
! 0.0
! 12.5
! 7.0
! 19.5
! 4.5
! 2.0

Honours and achievements

VFL
Junior