Retiring Craig White reflects on the biggest influences on his career

SOUTH Fremantle life member and dual premiership star Craig White looks set to finish his decorated career against Peel Thunder and that could be a fitting end after it was only the efforts of Marty Atkins that saw him not play with the Mandurah-based club in the first place.

Having grown up in Williams and having his parents live in Mandurah once he'd finished school at Aquinas College, White was weighing up whether or not to remain at South Fremantle or join Peel Thunder ahead of the 2004 WAFL season following the colts premiership.

A meeting with Peel coach and former Geelong AFL champion Garry Hocking had him on the verge of agreeing to join the Thunder, but the efforts of Bulldogs games record holder and then football manager Atkins ended up seeing White remain at South Fremantle.

And he's never regretted it for a second going on to play in a reserves premiership in 2004 and then league triumphs in 2005 and 2009 as part of a career that has now spanned 190 matches with him captaining the Bulldogs and earning life membership of South Fremantle.

White now hopes to have two games remaining in his career starting this Saturday against West Perth at Fremantle Oval and then in Mandurah against Peel, and he can't help but reflect on the influence that Atkins had in those early days.

"The person who had the biggest influence on me early on was Marty Atkins. I was pretty close to going to Peel out of my colts year because mum and dad lived in Mandurah, and Garry Hocking was the coach down there and I was pretty impressionable when I met with him as an 18-year-old," White said.

"But Marty took the time out to come down and see me to make sure I stayed at Souths, and I forged a great relationship with him over the next five or six years and he was a massive influence on my playing career."

It would be impossible for White to not reflect on his career and not pay tribute to his league coach for his first eight years and 139 matches, John Dimmer.

Dimmer had already won two premierships at West Perth when he arrived at South Fremantle in 2004, and had an uncanny ability to treat each player as an individual, and find a way to get the best out of each and every one of them.

White rates Dimmer as the best coach he's played under and it was a terrific journey the two had together with two premierships and seven finals appearances while he also believes that Glen Davies and Tony Walters deserves some credit too.

"The coaches I've had, obviously John Dimmer is the standout and he's been a massive part of my career. Still to this day he's obviously the best coach I've had and played under, and I learned all my footy craft from him and all the coaching stuff that I will take on will be things that I learned from John," he said.

"Two guys who have been a little unheralded are Tony Walters and Glen Davies who I have forged great relationships with over the years. Glen, especially early on, moulded me in my first couple of years and helped me become a little bit tougher than what I was when he was reserves coach, and assistant coach in the ones."

Over his 11 years and 190 matches, White has had some remarkable teammates who will always go down as South Fremantle greats, and he formed some lifetime friendships with a lot of them firstly as a youngster looking up to some veterans, and then as the older head showing the way.

"I've had some amazing teammates over the time. Toby McGrath, David Gault, Evan Hewitt and Ryan Webb early doors were standouts, and then more recently Josh Head, Hayden North, the Hams boys, Toby Bairstow, Adam Googs, Cory Dell and all those guys I've built great relationships with, become great mates with and played in premierships with most of them," White said.

"Kris Miller is another one and I think he's the one I have played the most of my games with. Googsy, Millsy, Red and the Hams boys I'd have played around 100 games with all of them so when you play that much footy with guys, it helps you build some great relationships."

Looking back on the success early in his career with a colts and reserves premiership, and then two league flags and seven finals appearances in his first eight seasons, White certainly appreciates how lucky he was to be part of the era now given South Fremantle hasn’t made the finals since 2011.

"It puts things into perspective. I probably took for granted how lucky we were early doors in my career that we enjoyed a lot of success, and I probably didn’t realise how tough it is to achieve that until the last few years. It really makes you look back and appreciate how hard it is not only to make finals, but then go all the way," he said.

"Having the premiership reunion this year really drove home how hard it is to win one, so to win two early in my career was a bonus when we had the luxury of playing finals all those years.

"That was a bloody good effort and a credit to the team we had back then, but the last few years has been relatively tough, but I think it's just starting to turn and the young colts players are starting to develop, and hopefully they can have some success again in the next couple of years."

White's journey on the field has been an interesting one as well. He broke into the team with Dimmer using him as well as Kyle and Ashton Hams as small forwards, but a couple of years later White found the role that he really found his feet in.

With some closer checking and tighter defenders around him, White settled across half-back and played a role in the successful South Fremantle years where his job was to use his run and kicking skills out of the back-line to set up play.

However, early last year he returned to a role in the forward-line and he has remained there since where he has worked hard leading up the ground, and then driving the ball back towards the likes Ben Saunders, Josh Pullman and up until more recently Paul Mugambwa.

He has never minded the role given, as long as he feels he is doing what's best for the team and that's exactly why on top of all the accolades he has racked up, anyone who knows White will always rate him as one of the best clubmen the Bulldogs have ever seen.

"I've been a little bit lucky in the roles I've been able to play. Early doors myself and the two Hamsy's were lucky enough to play in a good side that lacked small forwards so we got our opportunities to play games in that role," White said.

"Then going to half-back, I think my role was outside defensive and I could do that because of the luxury we had inside with the likes of the two Hamsy's, Northy, Heady, Sam Hunt and Chris Bossong in 2009.

"That made my job and role in the team fit in. If it was not as strong a defence I might not have been able to do that, but I was lucky to be a solid player in that group who played my role for the team."