Country Championships: South West coach Seth White hails buy-in from players as key reason behind 26th title

South West coach Seth White has hailed the region’s latest Country Championships title as a testament to the buy-in he received from his players. The South West Football League’s representative side finished last week’s 59th edition of the carnival as the winners for the 26th time, with a 19-point victory over Peel in the division one grand final at Leederville’s Sullivan Logistics Stadium on Sunday securing an eighth title over the last 12 years. In the championships, many of White’s charges were challenged in positions different to those they occupy at club level — among the changes were the side’s co-captain Jesse Crichton being sent into defence despite being a Hayward Medal-winning midfielder and Jason Carter moving from half-back to add speed to their on-ball brigade. White said he was “very lucky” even new players to the region were eager to pull on the green-and-gold jumper and play whatever role was required. “Any (representative) team you play in, probably only about 10 per cent of the people who play in it get to play in their actual position,” White said. “That was the best thing about the guys I coached, they all bought into whatever (their role) was and they just wanted to be successful. “I did make mention of a couple after the game — Jesse Crichton’s probably the first bloke in the history of the South West to actually be injured and try to get fit to play the (championships) in a week, everyone else probably would’ve chosen to have the week off . . . he played a massive part in the result.” South West were challenged early by the Cavaliers but responded with a trademark run of five unanswered goals through the game’s middle stages which all but made a certainty of the result White said the importance on capitalising on periods when momentum was in their favour had been one of the key messages he delivered to his players. “That was one thing we talked about even last year and this year as well, getting to a four-quarter game (in the final) would give us a bit more of a chance to get that momentum,” he said. “We just wanted to make sure we focused on us — I think we started to focus on what they were doing rather than what we can do (in the latter stages of the first half). “We knew if we controlled what we could control, our destiny was in our own hands.” After accepting the Dick Smith Trophy for the best coach of the championships for the second year running, White revealed the two-year contract he had signed to lead the region’s representative side was now at an end. But the Busselton assistant coach said he was eager to have a third go-around with the side. “As soon as I gave the wife a cuddle, she said ‘I guess we’re coming back next year’,” White said. “I’m sure I’ll sit down with the people that make those decisions over the next month or so and we’ll sort something out. “It was a great effort by everyone, I’m just proud to be the coach and be at the head of it . . . I’ve really enjoyed it.”