The decision to link up with Tamworth this season was a pretty easy one for Magpies prop Matt White – well if he wanted to stay on good terms with his family anyway.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“My old man used to play here in the 70s,” White said.
“His words were don’t play for Pirates.”
Fortunately for the Magpies and family relations, White did as he was told.
Roderick was incidentally also a front-rower and from what White has heard a pretty handy one.
“Everyone says he was pretty strong,” he said.
White followed his girlfriend up from Canberra, where the 30-year old had played first grade with Easts and Uni Norths.
After missing the last two seasons with injury, when he injured his knee in the Magpies trial win over Coonamble, coach Peter Burke feared White, whose experience, size and strength he was hoping would help fortify the pack, was in for an extended stint on the sidelines.
READ ALSO:
But White wasn’t too worried, he knew he just “needed a few weeks to get over it”.
The Magpies face Barbarians in Armidale on Saturday, and will be brimming with confidence after their thrilling triumph over competition leaders Robb College.
The manor of it made it all the more satisfying with the Magpies holding possession for the last two minutes.
“It’s good when you grind it out and get a win,” he said.
He had two or three carries in that final two minutes.
“I think we went about 17 phases,” he said.
It was a sign of their growing maturity as a side.
“We’re starting to click and get better as a team,” White said.
The win has reinvigorated their finals hopes pushing them up to third.
