Tiger's debut family affair
02 June 2006 Herald Sun
Daryl Timms
MATT White won't have any shortage of admirers when he makes his debut for Richmond against Fremantle at Subiaco Oval tomorrow night.
White's father Peter and grandfather Joe were born in Western Australia and the family has plenty of relatives in Perth who will attend the game.
The Tigers are making sure 19-year-old White has plenty of support and are flying his parents and grandparents from Melbourne to Perth.
"I'm excited, but not over-excited at the moment about playing my first game," White said before flying out of Melbourne yesterday.
Named on a wing, he is the fifth Tiger to make his debut this year.
White, who played for Calder Cannons last year, trained with the Tigers late last season in the hope of winning a spot on the rookie list.
But the Tigers put him straight on their senior list when they took him in the pre-season draft.
"On the Monday after the national draft I started training with them and I was looking at the rookie list but was picked up two weeks later in the pre-season draft," White said.
"The pre-season draft was held half an hour before the rookie draft."
White didn't take long to live up to his reputation as a speedster, winning this year's title for fastest Tiger around the Tan.
While Chris Hyde holds the club record of 13min 12sec for the 3.8km, he could not match White's time of 13:14 this year.
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