Richmond’s NPL preparations have been boosted by the signing of former A-League and South Melbourne midfielder Jake Barker-Daish, as well as current New Zealand international Liam Higgins.
22-year-old Barker-Daish returns to Kevin Bartlett Reserve have previously featured for the club’s Under 21 side in the 2009 after initially making his senior debut as a 14 year-old for the Altona Magic a year earlier.
A VIS graduate, the talented teenager was accepted into the AIS in 2010 and spent two years in Canberra at the state-of-the-art facility.
He moved to Queensland at the beginning of the 2011-12 season where he featured for the Gold Coast United Youth Team under Mike Mulvey before making his debut for the senior squad in the final weeks of the club’s existence where he made a total of seven senior appearances.
A subsequent move to Adelaide United followed for Barker-Daish, who also appeared for the Young Socceroos in the 2011 Under World Cup in Colombia.
He made 19 appearances and 2 goals in two injury-interrupted seasons under Josep Gombau before spending some time in England’s lower leagues with Lancashire-based side Colne.
Barker-Daish returned to Melbourne last year and signed for South Melbourne but struggled with injuries and inconsistent form throughout his spell at Lakeside Stadium.
His contract was not renewed by the club at season’s end with the former A-League midfielder making 19 appearances for the NPL Premiers.
Centre-half Higgins has played the entirety of his club football in his native New Zealand, most recently turning out for last season’s league runner-up Team Wellington.
A youth international. Higgins got a taste of World Cup action as he turned out for the Junior All Whites at the 2013 U20 World Cup in Turkey.
Also capable of playing at left-back, the defender made his senior debut in September 2015, coming off the bench in a 1-1 draw against Myanmaar.
The pair become Richmond’s sixth and seventh off-season signing following the additions of Nick Kokolakis (Northcote City), former Netherlands Under 21 international Geert Arend Roorda (Dordrecht), Nikola Popovich (Woden Weston), Travis Chalk-Hatton (Box Hill United) and Andrew Doig (Kingston City).
The 2015 NPL1 Champions begin life in the top flight with an away trip to Hume City where they will face off against departing skipper and talisman Tom Cahill who was the club’s top scorer in each of the last four seasons.