Brent Naden (born 30 December 1995) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a and er for the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

(NRL). Naden previously played for the

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

, and the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

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 Stadi ...

win as 18th man.

Background

Naden was born in

Wellington, New South Wales Wellington is a town in the Central Western Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, located at the junction of the Wambuul Macquarie River, Wambuul Macquarie and Bell Rivers. It is within the Local government in Australia, local government ...

, and is of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

(

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 Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The constitution of Germany, implemented in 1949 following the end of World War ...

. He was educated at Wellington High School. Naden played his junior rugby league for the

Wellington Cowboys Group 11 was a rugby league competition in the surrounding areas of Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia. The competition is played in four grades, these being First-Grade, Reserve-Grade, Under 19s and Ladies League Tag. Ahead of the 2022 season, t ...

, 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 Interchange (or, colloquially, the bench or interchange bench) is a team position in Australian rules football, consisting of players who are part of the selected team but are not currently on the field of play. Interchange numbers AFL As of th ...

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 reserve ...

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 Rugb ...

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 Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield. Recent ...

. In 2018, Naden joined the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

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 The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

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. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...

. In round 15 against the

New Zealand Warriors The 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 the Aucklan ...

, 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, currently known as BlueBet Stadium for sponsorship reasons, 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 Panthe ...

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-season ...

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

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in Inner South-Western Sydney. The region is located to the north of the St George region (from which it is separated by Wolli Creek) and to the south of the Inner West region ...

ANZ Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

. Penrith finished the regular season having already claimed the

Minor Premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

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 Me ...

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 was 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 ...

, Naden made his club debut for Canterbury in their 6–4 victory against

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

at the

Queensland Country Bank Stadium North Queensland Stadium, currently known as Queensland Country Bank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Rugby League stadium located in Railway Estate, a suburb of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It is the home ground of the North Queensl ...

. On 17 May after

Trent Barrett Trent Barrett (born 18 November 1977) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is currently the assistant coach of the Brisbane Broncos and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2 ...

stood down as coach of the

, Naden was signed by the

West Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL ...

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 Syd ...

. 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 A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture. History The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...

for the first time.

2023

Naden played a total of eight games for the Wests Tigers in the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

and scored two tries as the club finished with the

for a second straight year.

2024

Naden was limited to only nine games with the Wests Tigers in the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

as the club finished with the wooden spoon for a third straight year.

2025

On 21 February during a pre-season trial match, Naden suffered a serious knee injury. Naden had suffered a dislocated kneecap and be ruled out for two months.

Statistics

*denotes season competing source:

Personal life

In December 2020, Naden received a one-month ban for a doping violation after testing that took place at the

. He also received treatment at a rehabilitation clinic in Sydney.

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 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Penrith Panthers players Sportspeople from Wellington, New South Wales Mount Pritchard Mounties players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Dubbo Wests Tigers players Wiradjuri people 21st-century Australian sportsmen