Supporters often have a soft spot for players who have to scratch and claw their way to prove themselves at AFL level.

It’s often these guys who end up grabbing their opportunity the strongest when it does finally come along.

Richmond has a few of these types – players overlooked in the National Draft such as rookie draftees Nathan Foley, Will Thursfield, Kelvin Moore and Cam Howat.

Others like Shane Tuck, Brent Hartigan and Andrew Raines weren’t drafted until pick 70 and beyond, and have since had to scrap to make their mark in senior league ranks.

But there aren’t many youngsters whose path to AFL football leads through the Pre-season Draft – normally the domain for experienced players looking to find a new home.

Arguably, the only two young players who have successfully trod this path in recent times have been Port Adelaide’s Jacob Surjan (taken in the 2004 Pre-season Draft) and Carlton’s Eddie Betts (taken in 2005).

Richmond, however, may well have pulled off a recruiting coup late last year – and in doing so added to its list of youngsters recruited through less than orthodox means – with its drafting of Matthew White with pick five in the 2006 Pre-season Draft.

While it might only be early days for 19-year-old White, the former Sunbury Lions junior seems to have grasped his opportunity in the big time and is now starting to make his mark on the field.

The fact he has gripped his opportunity so hard is not surprising when you consider he almost ended up not being drafted at all . . .

Rewind to 2005 and White’s final season with the successful Calder Cannons under-18s side was in disarray. After he and his Calder teammates celebrated a premiership in 2004, White’s final season in under-18 ranks turned sour through injury.

Not only did he miss a number of TAC Cup games – including finals – but he was unable to take his place for Vic Metro after being selected in the side for the National under-18 championships.

Despite his injury, White polled 11 votes in the Morrish Medal, and averaged around 20 touches per game in his 15 games appearances for Calder. But because of his absence at the National Championships, he fell off some recruiters’ radars come Draft time.

Also, some clubs were concerned that a run of injuries in 2004 and 2005 – including a cracked bone in his leg – might have meant White’s body would struggle to stand up under the pressures of AFL football.

Richmond, however, kept an eye on him.

Maybe it was due to his impressive credentials during his junior football career with the Cannons and in the Riddell District Junior Football League. Maybe it was his reputation as a star schoolboy athlete. Maybe it was even the fact he had been a Richmond supporter since birth and had impressed the Club after being given permission to train at Punt Road in late 2005.

Whatever the reason, when the time came for Richmond’s choice in the 2006 Pre-season Draft, the Tigers could not pass up the chance to select White with pick five – adding another former Calder Cannon to their list alongside David Rodan, Dean Limbach and Hartigan.

In recruiting White, they might just have picked up a real “bargain” – and another quality young player for the future.

After fighting hard to break into Richmond’s line-up in Round 10 against Fremantle at Subiaco, White looked far from overawed, gathering eight touches, five marks and kicking a goal.

Despite this, White returned to Coburg the following week. But he would continue to impress in the VFL, forcing a recall to the Richmond team for the impressive Round 13 victory over Collingwood.

Again, he was omitted for the Round 17 match against the Western Bulldogs, only to receive a late call-up to replace the injured Danny Meyer. That game saw him match a career-high in gathering 12 disposals.

During his first few games, Tiger fans had already started to notice his speed, balance and quality disposal on both sides of the body.

Not only that, but White was a real goer – a half-back flanker who backed himself, went straight at the ball, and ran the lines – as well as trying to balance those attacking instincts with accountability for his opponent.

Against Brisbane at Telstra Dome last Saturday night, White played the best game of his brief AFL career in Richmond’s 82-point thumping of the Lions.

Matched up against livewire young Brisbane forward Rhan Hooper, White not only kept his opponent quiet, but joined the rest of the Tiger defence in quelling Lions’ forward thrusts and then rebounding the ball into attack.

From the first minute, White was in the action, laying a tackle on big Brisbane youngster Daniel Merrett and attempting to sling him over the boundary line. Despite the massive size and weight difference between the two – some 17cm and more than 20kg – White did not take a backwards step, grabbing onto Merrett and ensuring the Lions’ forward went nowhere.

White would back that tackle up with another on Daniel Bradshaw a few minutes later to help stop the Lions’ spearhead kicking a goal.

As the Tigers’ stamped their authority on the game, White joined in the party. Like teammates Patrick Bowden and Andrew Raines, White continued to slip away from his opponent and storm through the centre and half-forward line to provide run. He also continued to work hard the other way to prevent the dangerous Hooper from causing any damage.

With Richmond’s dominance continuing in the second quarter, White again ran forward, finding himself on the end of a series of taps, knocks and scrappy possessions by Tiger teammates, before gathering the ball cleanly and quickly swivelling onto his right boot.

Kicking the ball just as he was tackled and spun around, White watched and then pumped his fist with joy as his kick wobbled, torpedo-like, through the middle for the Tigers’ eighth goal.

Later in the quarter he was back in defence, dumping Simon Black in a hard tackle and then bravely standing his ground in front of Brisbane’s goal to mark and repel a Lions’ forward thrust.

By the end of the match, White had notched up 14 possessions, four marks, six tackles and a goal. His opponent Hooper – kickless in the first term – was largely ineffective and ended up with 10 touches and a goal.

It’s a good sign that three of Richmond’s best young debutants in 2006 have come by way of the Pre-season Draft (White), a third-round Rookie Draft pick (Howat), and a second round National Draft pick from 2004, who didn’t play a senior game in 2005 (Dean Polo).

Add to that Patrick Bowden’s debut season for Richmond – a player the Tigers only gave up a fourth-round draft pick for – and the Club’s recruiting and talent-spotting endeavours over the past 18 months certainly appear pretty impressive.

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