I’m not going to lie. I have only seen Ben Nason play about 10 minutes of footy and it looked like he did his ACL in that time. That was four weeks ago in the first round of the NAB Cup when Richmond attempted to play against Hawthorn. I think that’s what they were trying to do that night… 

This is easily the most uninformed article I have written, but at least I’m up front and honest, rather than pretending to be an expert on all things Nason. 

What we do need though is a bloody live body in the back line. Not that Nason will spend any time in defence. Everything I’ve read about him this pre-season has suggested he has never gone anywhere near the backline. 

In fact, a funny article I came across had quotes from him saying he didn’t understand why he was listed as a defender in Dream Team. Reading between the lines there, I like a player who is very aware of Dream Team. I think it bodes well for their desire to get the ball (slight tongue in cheek, but you have to wonder with some of them). Regardless, Nason is listed as a defender and I really wanted to cover a defender this week, considering my only other one was Brad Sheppard, who I don’t think will get early games (but will be a wonderful DT’er one day!) 

I had a few different friends who made the trip to Morwell both as Essendon and Richmond fans and everyone seemed pretty impressed with his game. A score of 78 would indicate he was pretty good and Essendon were fielding a near full strength side. 

When looking at his pre-season numbers, keep in mind that his 11 in the first game was when he went off with what looked to be a serious knee injury. He went off in the second quarter and it actually looked really bad - like ACL bad. Luckily it turned out to be not so serious and he was back a couple of weeks later. 

He joins Richmond as a mature aged player at 20 years of age and he played most of last year with Central Districts reserves. It should be noted that it’s very tough for young players to break into Central’s league side (they have won 8 of the last 10 SANFL premierships, so who are we to question how they blood their players?!) but he did get a couple of league games last year, including a final and was named an emergency for the Grand Final. 

His agility and endurance are weapons, however he didn’t test too well for speed at the South Australian State Screening last year (3.11 in the 20m). However, he is said to have a great work rate and creates good forward pressure. Honestly, I’d love to be able to help you out with first hand experience of having seen a bit more of him, but let’s face it - he’s in line for selection in Round 1, scored well in the last week of NAB Challenge and I’m getting the vibe that Hardwick is going to really give the kids a crack this year. Well, here’s hoping, because 3 of my 8 articles were on tiger cubs.