Brent Naden (born 30 December 1995) is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who plays as a and er for the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture ...

in the NRL. Naden previously played for the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...

, and the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

with whom was part of the

2021 NRL Grand Final The 2021 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2021 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Sunday 3 October at Suncorp Stadiu ...

win as 18th man.

Background

Naden was born in

Wellington, New South Wales Wellington is a city in the Central Western Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, located at the junction of the Wambuul Macquarie and Bell Rivers. It is within the local government area of Dubbo Regional Council. The city is northwest o ...

, and is of

(

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

) and

German descent , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

. He was educated at Wellington High School. Naden played his junior rugby league for the Wellington Cowboys, before being signed by the

Playing career

Early years

From 2014 to 2015, Naden played for the Penrith Panthers'

NRL Under-20s The NRL Under-20s (known commercially as the Holden Cup due to sponsorship from Holden) was the top league of professional rugby league for players aged 20 years or younger in Australasia. Contested by sixteen teams, the Under-20s competition co ...

team, captaining the side to a premiership and being named on the interchange bench in the NYC Team of the Year in 2015. In 2016, Naden graduated to their

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

team. In 2017, Naden joined the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

but failed to make an NRL appearance, only appearing in their ISP NSW team

Mount Pritchard Mounties The Mounties Rugby League Football Club (sponsored by Mounties Group) is an Australian rugby league football club based in Mount Pritchard, New South Wales formed in 1927. They currently play in the NSW Cup, Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield. ...

. In 2018, Naden joined the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

on a 1-year contract, but again failed to make an NRL appearance.

2019

In 2019, Naden rejoined the Panthers. In round 12 of the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

, Naden made his NRL debut for the Panthers against the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. In round 15 against the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

, Naden scored 2 tries, one of which was an 80 metre effort as he beat several New Zealand players to reach the try line. Penrith would go on to win the match in extra time 19-18. In Round 18 against St George, Naden scored two tries as Penrith won the match 40-18 at

Penrith Stadium Penrith Stadium (known commercially as BlueBet Stadium) is a rugby league and association football stadium located in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. The 22,500 capacity venue is the home ground for the Penrith Panthers who play in the Na ...

2020

In round 20 of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-seaso ...

, Naden scored two tries in a 42-0 victory over

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs ...

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand * ...

. Penrith finished the regular season having already claimed the Minor Premiership at week earlier. Naden played 19 games for Penrith in the

scoring 12 tries. He played in the

2020 NRL Grand Final The 2020 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2020 National Rugby League season held at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on October 25. The match was contested between minor premiers Penrith Panthers and second-placed Melb ...

where Penrith lost to Melbourne 26-20.

2021

On April 28, 2021, it was announced that Naden had signed a two-year deal with

starting in 2022. In round 22, Naden scored two tries for Penrith in a 34-16 victory over St. George Illawarra.

2022

In round 1 of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

, Naden made his club debut for Canterbury in their 6-4 victory against North Queensland at the Queensland Country Bank Stadium. On 17 May after

Trent Barrett Trent Barrett (born 18 November 1977) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is a former head coach and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He was previously the head ...

stood down as coach of the

, Naden was signed by the West Tigers effective immediately. Naden made his club debut the same week for the Wests Tigers in their 36-22 victory against his former club Canterbury at

Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Sydney ...

. In round 14, Naden was sent off for a dangerous lifting tackle in Wests 30-4 loss against Manly. Naden played a total of ten games for the Wests Tigers in the

as the club finished bottom of the table and claimed the

Wooden Spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

for the first time.

Personal life

Naden is distantly related to

Malcolm Naden Malcolm John Naden (born 5 November 1973) is an Australian former fugitive from the law. At the time of his capture and arrest in March 2012, Naden was reported as being one of Australia's most wanted men and his arrest attracted international ...

. In November 2020, Naden entered a rehabilitation clinic in Sydney. The Penrith club released a statement which said "Following the 2020 NRL grand final, Brent Naden approached the club and disclosed a number of personal issues he wished to address. As a result, Brent is currently undertaking a voluntary rehabilitation program in a private Sydney facility". On 1 December 2020, Naden was provisionally suspended by the NRL after testing positive for Cocaine. The NRL released a statement which read “The National Rugby League (NRL) has today provisionally suspended Penrith Panthers player Brent Naden under the NRL's Anti-Doping Policy. “The mandatory Provisional Suspension Notice asserts that Mr Naden returned a positive A-sample for metabolites of cocaine following a test conducted by Sport Integrity Australia after the Grand Final match on 25 October 2020. Cocaine is prohibited In-Competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the NRL's Anti-Doping Policy".

References

External links

Penrith Panthers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naden, Brent 1995 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of German descent Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Indigenous Australian rugby league players Penrith Panthers players Mount Pritchard Mounties players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from New South Wales Wests Tigers players Wiradjuri people People from Wellington, New South Wales