Country Championships: South West coach Seth White says side’s mentality will not change after 2024 success

South West Country Championships senior coach Seth White says his side’s mentality will not change from last year despite coming into the 2025 edition of the carnival as the reigning champions. After a shock loss to Avon in the grand final of the 2023 tournament, the South West atoned in 2024’s decider with an 11-point victory over the same opponent, giving them their ninth title across the past 12 editions of the championships. White, who last year claimed the Dick Smith Trophy as the championships’ best coach in his first go-round with the side, said a shift in status from the hunters to the hunted would not bother him or his players. “To be honest, I think the South West are always the hunted. We tell everyone that we’re the best (competition) outside the WAFL” he said. “From what I’m hearing, every competition thinks they’ve got a pretty good side, as do we, so I think it’ll be a pretty even competition. “Probably whoever gets off to a good start on that Friday will be in the best position to go ahead to the grand final.” White, a two-time premiership player with Collie who also had a stint coaching the Eagles, was not involved in the game at club level last year but took on a role as Matt Jamieson’s assistant at Busselton ahead of the 2025 season. He said discussions with Jamieson over a potential return to clubland had first come about when the Magpies coach served as his assistant at the 2024 championships. “We’ve been pretty good mates since he started (coaching) at Augusta-Margaret River and started at Collie,” White said. “I may have said after a couple of quiet drinks last year I owed him a favour and he’s taken that literally and here we are. “I’m really enjoying it. Being in a backseat role, I’ve learnt a heap more about myself as a coach, about the game. I’ve really enjoyed my time there.” Squads for the championships are always liable to change from year to year as players join and leave the competition but the South West squad has seen particularly frenetic turnover this year, with only eight players from the 2024 grand final set to go around again. White said the opportunity to work with several new faces had been exciting. “Being a week earlier this year, it’s the middle weekend of the school holidays, so there’s a couple of guys that have got kids that already had holidays booked before the change came in. That’s a bit unfortunate,” he said. “It’ll be exciting to see what the other guys bring.” With Shaun Crane — who has captained the team at the past three editions of the championships — away, a new pair of co-captains have been appointed in Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault’s Jesse Crichton and South Bunbury’s Tom Gorter. Neither of the pair skipper their side at club level but White said they had proven themselves to be quality leaders over several years of involvement with the South West program. “They’re probably the two most experienced blokes we’ve got,” White said. “When Jesse was last in the comp, he was a strong advocate for it. Tom’s been really great to me in advocating for it as well, so I thought they both deserved it. “We couldn’t split those two. We’re looking forward to seeing what they bring and how they lead the guys.” Nine of the South West Football League’s 11 clubs have had at least two players selected in the squad, with Augusta-Margaret River and Harvey Bulls the only sides with none. Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault have the most representation in the squad with five players, ahead of ladder-leaders Busselton, second-placed South Bunbury and 10th-placed Collie, who have four apiece. Among the recent recruits to the competition who are set to feature for the side are Collie trio Luke English, Corey Holmes and Matthew Burton, Eaton pair Jason Carter and Jack Cox, Bunbury’s Durak Tucker and South Bunbury’s Jye Clark. The South West side will start the championships with a rematch of last year’s grand final with Avon from 11am at Leederville’s Sullivan Logistics Stadium on Friday, after which they will take on Great Northern at 2pm. They will then head to Mandurah for games against Great Northern (11am) and Goldfields (1pm) at Lane Group Stadium on Saturday. Sunday’s grand final will again be held at Sullivan Logistics Stadium and is set to start at 1.30pm, after the division three and two deciders earlier in the day. All games from the championships are being broadcast live on Streamer. South West Country Championships squad: Denholm King, Baiden Parsons, Durak Tucker (Bunbury), Liam Creighton, Ben Ganzer, Jon Meadmore, Jozef Parkinson (Busselton), Jaxon Bell (Carey Park), Matthew Burton, Luke English, Corey Holmes, Paul Rinder (Collie), Zac Trigwell (Donnybrook), Jake Green, Simon Moore (Dunsborough), Jason Carter, Jack Cox (Eaton), Ty Anderson, Jesse Crichton, Jack Fletcher, Blake Soulos, Zavier Williams (Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault), Jace Cormack, Jye Clark, Tom Gorter, Kade Szyszka (South Bunbury)