FROM three very different paths, a trio of Dandenong Stingrays alumni were given some of the last spots available in next year’s AFL competition.
Mitch White, Nick Newman and Jordan Kelly come from dissimilar football backgrounds in recent seasons, but have found the same end goal after earning their places in Wednesday’s AFL Rookie Draft.
Finishing off his top-age year at Dandenong, White was taken with pick 20 by the Melbourne Demons, joining former team-mate James Harmes in the Red and Blue.
White, a 188cm and 88kg running defender, had rocketed up the recruiters’ tables following a best-and-fairest winning year with the Stingrays and also featuring in two games for Vic Country.
White had been highly touted as a prospect by Stingrays’ coach Craig Black who thought the defender had done enough to earn a chance in the big leagues.
White joins former team-mates Jack Lonie, Tom Lamb (West Coast) and Bailey Dale (Western Bulldogs) on AFL lists for the 2015 season, following a strong year on-field for Dandenong finishing fourth in the TAC Cup competition.
Taking his time to improve through the VFL ranks was the second Stingray alumnus to get into the AFL.
After his first draft experience reaped no results, former Stingray Nick Newman went about improving his game and making an impact in the VFL – with his local club Frankston Dolphins.
2014 was a breakout year for the wily midfielder as his 18-game season led him to a 24-possession average – highlighted by a whopping 37-touch best-on-ground effort against Box Hill in Round 18.
His consistency and stand out performances earned him this year’s Fothergill-Round Medal for the league’s most promising young talent.
The accolade is seen as a stepping stone to the AFL – as the last nine medallists have earned spots on an AFL list after winning it – and Newman proved no different as he was given a chance by the Sydney Swans at pick 35.
The last of the Stingrays’ trio to get spot in the AFL already had one for the last three seasons.
While he never got his chance to play for Hawthorn in his three years at Waverley Park, former Stingray Jordan Kelly, 21, has been thrown a second chance to earn a long-overdue AFL debut, after selection at pick 23 by the Western Bulldogs.
The Dogs would have seen plenty of Kelly in Box Hill’s VFL grand-final loss to Footscray, on the back of a solid 20-game season switched between forward and back lines.
