The Kalani White Thread

[Supreme_Demon 3,009]

No urgency for Kalani White to make a decision.

He should just go out and have fun and play footy. Learn to develop his skills. No pressure at this stage.

 

However, I do hope he does choose the Demons though. It would be a wonderful Melbourne Demons tradition to continue with the Father-Son rule and his Father Jeff White would be incredibly proud. I can imagine it being an amazingly emotional and memorable moment to see Kalani get handed his Melbourne Demons guernsey by his Dad too! 🥺

[Mike 210]

If you're Kalani then surely you want to follow in your dad's footsteps and play for the same club. I really hope that's how he's thinking about it.

[Dannyz 2,312]

He's definitely going to play for Melbourne.

[whatwhat say what 18,875]

14 minutes ago, Mike said:

If you're Kalani then surely you want to follow in your dad's footsteps and play for the same club. I really hope that's how he's thinking about it.

i very much doubt he wants to suit up for flagmantle

[Master Chief 72]

20 hours ago, Demon 16 said:

Kalani does live up on the Gold Coast doesn’t he? Or in Brisbane at least.

Is he actually any good though? I have read mixed reports as to whether he’s touted as a top end talent, or likely to go later in the draft (or even rookie draft).

He lives on the Gold Coast but is a hardcore Dees fan. 

Not sure what the family situation is but going interstate to play footy is par for the course for rookies. No different from any of the WA or SA boys. 

Edited March 21 by Master Chief

[Bay Riffin 1,413]

19 hours ago, Its Time for Another said:

Blakey actually had 3 teams he could go to. Might not happen again. His father played over 100 games for Roos and Lions and he grew up in Sydney and went the whole way through the Sydney Academy from the earliest age. That happened because his father was an Assistant at the Swans for that whole period. If he had moved to another team in a different State he wouldn't have stayed at the Academy and wouldn't have been eligible for them. 

thats my point, its a rort. His dad is paid by an AFL team so that why his son was up there. he would be living and breathing AFL footy as a kid. the essense of Academy selection is spending the time and $ invested into youngsters who would otherwise be lost to other codes. And even then its ultimately AFL funded. same goes for Kalani. It's a bigger rort then the COLA salary cap which was rightfully taken away (only because of the Buddy trade mind you - whatever hits the papaers matters. 

[Katrina Dee Fan 2,455]

23 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

“Is #34 free?”

Yes

[Its Time for Another 4,052]

14 minutes ago, Bay Riffin said:

thats my point, its a rort. His dad is paid by an AFL team so that why his son was up there. he would be living and breathing AFL footy as a kid. the essense of Academy selection is spending the time and $ invested into youngsters who would otherwise be lost to other codes. And even then its ultimately AFL funded. same goes for Kalani. It's a bigger rort then the COLA salary cap which was rightfully taken away (only because of the Buddy trade mind you - whatever hits the papaers matters. 

Agree with you that the purpose of the northern academy's was to find players who wouldn't otherwise play AFL. Heeney is the poster boy for the success for this. Blakey and Mills who already played AFL in a junior club are not. But how you police that I don't know. 

Don't agree with you at all on COLA. I live in Sydney and there is a very clearly identifiable difference in COL up here compared to any other city in Australia. Especially compared to somewhere like Geelong who get a massive COL advantage. The whole COLA outrage and the Buddy deal was a scurrilous beat up by Eddie Everywhere. The COLA component of the salary cap was audited by the AFL every year. It was allocated per rata to each player on the list. There was no pooling of the money and giving it to just one player, Buddy. Swans and GWS will always run with a substantial disadvantage at. attracting players because of this disparity. It has had a significant effect on their trading since it was taken away. 

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,578]

On 20/03/2024 at 14:48, Whispering_Jack said:

He was an  All Australian at Under 16 level last year so he is more than "any good".

He can play at his father's old club and has the opportunity of learning ruck craft at Melbourne under Max Gawn. 

Is there anything else that he needs to know?

'Learning ruck craft' under Max?

Surely he's already had an A grade apprenticeship under his old man and Max is adding the final touches to that?

I actually liked the look of what I saw from Verrall in the practice matches, so we could be in a position to build some good ruck depth again over a spread of age groups, which would be a good thing.

One of the great playing trates of Jeff is that he was a decent forward as well as ruck and if Kalani is cut from the same cloth, that could be very useful to us indeed.

[Little Goffy 12,546]

Am I missing something; every 'future prospects' profile as well as Kalani's All-australian selection has him as a tall defender.

So, presumably he won't be a ruck, but rather spend a 2-4 seasons as a defender before being moved forward to plug a hole and staying there, as per Demon tradition!

[Demon 16 175]

On 20/03/2024 at 14:48, Whispering_Jack said:

He was an  All Australian at Under 16 level last year so he is more than "any good".

He can play at his father's old club and has the opportunity of learning ruck craft at Melbourne under Max Gawn. 

Is there anything else that he needs to know?

I hope he is, although I have heard a few things suggesting that he might have snuck into that squad on his name rather than his output.

I’ve also heard that his dad is keen for him to select the Dees if given the opportunity.

Hopefully he is a gun and makes it to us!