Nation first played competitive Gaelic football at juvenile and underage levels with Nemo Rangers.
After progressing onto the club's senior team, he enjoyed a hugely successful era and won All-Ireland medals in 1984, 1989 and 1994.
[1] Nation made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty when he was selected for the Cork minor team.
Over the course of the next eight years, Nation won two All-Ireland medals as part of Cork's back-to-back successes in 1989 and 1990.
[2] After being selected on the Munster inter-provincial team for the first time in 1991, Nation was an unused substitute throughout the championship and ended his career without a Railway Cup medal.