By JARROD POTTER
You didn’t think we’d stop this over the weekend? To get you through your Saturday pile of mid-morning toast and coffee herein lies our fifth Ray A Day. Brandon White, defender, wingman and great all-around prospect.
BRANDON WHITE
CLUB: Dandenong/Beaconsfield
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 188cm/77kg
ACHIEVEMENTS: U18 National champion, Vic Country, Dandenong Stingrays runner-up best-and-fairest, National Combine, Casey Cardinia premiership.
PREDICTION: Pick 30-50.
The year has been up and down but Dandenong defender Brandon White has steered the course throughout.
That’s his nature – the Beaconsfield footballer is resilient yet adaptable, strong but flexible, and understanding of the hard road ahead but won’t walk it without a smile on his face.
Although he finished up in the Vic Country midst – putting himself through a wringer as he was smashed about in the round six clash against Western Australia to help his Victorians win the championship – it didn’t start that way after an early omission forced him to dig deep.
Through his 16 TAC Cup appearances this year it was evident how hungry he was to play and eventually that fact caught up to the state selectors.
After dominating the Knights – with a rampaging 32-possession effort across half-back and the wing – it was too hard for Vic Country to keep him out. It proved to other footballers the easy path isn’t necessarily the one you’ll get to walk, so make sure you fight hard along the way no matter what.
“I enjoyed the Northern Knights game, that was a really good game for me personally and trying to prove myself to the Vic Country recruiters and selectors to give me another shot in Vic Country,” White said.
“That was definitely a big part of my year and flipped it on its head.”
White struggled to hold himself back at times; even battling to the last minute to prove himself fit and over the flu before the Stingrays’ first-final against Murray when he was clearly under the weather and in no shape to play.
It shows there’s plenty of fight in him and it’s all targeted towards the task at hand.
He’s also that unique size at the TAC Cup level – is he a tall defender? Third defender? Rebound defender? Attacking half-back or defensive wingman? But therein lies the magic. He’s whatever Dandenong needed.
“I’ve been thinking about it the last few weeks and few months – during the year you don’t have time to think about it as you’re playing week to week and focused on the next game,” White said.
“I think I can play plenty of roles – obviously I played forward as a junior and thought I could play then got the opportunity to run on the wings at the Stingrays and I’ve been working on my offensive part of my game.
“Not just locking down on my opponent, but once I beat them to set up plays for the team.”
Football is his world and learning the craft at the next level will drive him intellectually – like a scientist needs his laboratory, White needs to be on the field, watching videos or in the gym to continue his pursuit of improvement.
Making the step up to the AFL, he’ll probably lose the ability to play as a tall defender unless there’s one more growth spurt in him, but he’ll definitely be the chop-out man when he goes back as he’s fiercely courageous and smart around the ball.
The natural defender comes from great rootstock – his cousin is AFL legend and current Brisbane Lions coach Justin Leppitsch who rates the 188cm multi-faceted player highly.
The agony in the alteration to academy picks means that while Leppitsch and the Lions have a smorgasbord of second round selections, they will most likely be eaten up by early academy bids on Eric Hipwood and Ben Keays.
Nonetheless the potential nepotism of a Brisbane pick isn’t the be-all for White’s AFL chances – he’s going into the big league no matter what, but the question is now where rather than if.
The interest so far has come from around the football world – 17 of the 18 clubs interviewed him throughout the year and of those smart 17 (the one absentee is missing out) many more interviewed him again and again, keen to learn more about the man they want to pick.
You devoted phantom drafters predicting and cultivating your mock drafts will be pleased to hear White has read some of your work and finds them amusing nonetheless.
It helps him pass the time with a chuckle as the period between season’s end and draft continues to grind along.
“It’s just a huge mind game at the moment and seeing all the mock drafts going around at the moment – having a bit of fun reading them with your mates and mum and dad, but yeah … it’s been a long month,” White said.
“I don’t take it (mock drafts) into much consideration – I don’t know how much they know about myself and the insight into the clubs – but it’s a good laugh and great to see me in the 30-40 area which is comfortable.”
When his name is called, he’ll become the first alumnus of Berwick Grammar School to earn a spot in the AFL – a fact that won’t be missed on school principal Doug Bailey, a former AFL defender himself.
For now it’s a task of him pulling up a seat on Tuesday and waiting for the ride to catch up to his expectations as he waits to plug himself into a life in football.
“It’s pretty scary – don’t known what’s going to happen – will you or won’t you get drafted,” White said. “If you go get drafted, moving out of home and interstate is a big thing.
“I’m more confident than not, definitely – through the second half of the year when the clubs showed some interest and started contacting myself, Mark Wheeler and my player manager Tim Hazel, that’s when it obviously got serious.”
Dandenong coach Craig Black said any touch gained off White was forged in furious battle and White’s kicking game made him equally as dangerous once he gets the ball.
“We always thought he could play and his pre-season was particularly strong,” Black said.
“He was natural defender at the start, very aggressive at the ball and you knew if you got a possession on Brandon it was well earned.
“His kicking really set us up and he’ll be another one once he gets a couple of pre-seasons under his belt he’ll be one to go up the wings with his kicking ability.”
