Inside story: How Brent Naden quit Canterbury Bulldogs for Wests Tigers in three hours

Wests Tigers shocked everyone when they named Canterbury’s Brent Naden in their side to take on the Bulldogs. DEAN RITCHIE reveals how the bizarre whirlwind move unfolded.

Brent Naden will line up against the Bulldogs on Friday night.

Brent Naden’s Wests Tigers contract was lodged just five minutes before an NRL deadline allowing him to play against his former club this Friday night.

After a frantic series of meetings on Tuesday afternoon, the fastest player transfer in rugby league history was completed in less than four hours.

Naden quit Canterbury on Tuesday – just 24 hours after coach Trent Barrett resigned – to link up with the Tigers on an 18-month deal, effective immediately.

Unbelievably, Naden will now confront his former Bulldogs teammates in a highly-charged match at Leichhardt Oval on Friday evening.

But it was just minutes from being prevented.

Naden’s manager, Allan Gainey, lodged the final paperwork with the NRL salary cap auditor at 3.55pm on Tuesday – just five minutes before all NRL teams are required to announce their sides for the coming round.

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Brent Naden will line up against the Bulldogs on Friday night.

With the NRL in receipt of Naden’s new deal, Wests had just seconds to add his name to their team sheet. At 4pm, Wests’ team was announced with Naden named in jumper 21 on an extended bench. He is certain to play, however.

The timeline in Naden’s shock move is extraordinary and caught everyone by surprise.

On Monday, Naden, who has been playing on the wing, approached Bulldogs general manager of football, Phil Gould, seeking a chance to play in the centres.

While hugely respectful of Naden’s ability, Gould pointed out Canterbury had a wealth of young centres emerging, including Jake Averillo and Paul Alamoti.

Naden was prepared to stay at Belmore but Gainey felt an opportunity had arisen at Concord, given injuries had depleted the centre position so badly that back-rower Luke Garner had been forced to cover out wide.

Regular centres missing include Adam Doueihi and James Roberts while Oliver Gildart’s form has been modest. Tyrone Peachey and AJ Kepaoa have been named as starting centres for Friday night.

Gainey approached Wests at just the right time.

Excited by an opportunity to play centre at Wests Tigers, and after a phone call to Tigers recruitment manager Warren McDonnell, Naden and his family drove to hold a face-to-face meeting with Maguire between midday and at 1pm on Tuesday.

Naden was also keen to play alongside his mate, injured fullback Daine Laurie.

After the meeting, Naden was convinced he wanted to shift clubs and told Gainey to sort through the finances with Gould and veteran Bulldogs recruitment manager, Peter Sharp.

Canterbury agreed to tip in some money for Naden this year and again in 2023, with the

length of his contract and the money remaining the same now he is at the Wests Tigers.

Gainey was appreciative Gould did not stand in the way of Naden’s desire to play centre fulltime elsewhere.

The final details – stating all parties had agreed to terms — were lodged at five minutes to four with Naden then picked to play the Bulldogs.

“We had to work overtime to get it all through to the NRL before 4pm,” Gainey said. “I sent the last email at about 3.55pm, which allowed him to play in the team on Friday night. It was only at the last minute that all parties agreed to the deal.

“I had to run that by Gus and told him that Wests Tigers wanted to play him against Canterbury he said he wouldn’t stand in Brent’s way. It was a good all-round result for everyone. Both parties were happy.

“It all moved quickly and was done to everyone’s satisfaction. The player was happy to move on and take his opportunities. He wants to establish himself in the centres, he is more damaging in that position.”