Bailey Rice and Brandon White have a lot in common.
They’re both tough defenders with the ability to explode off the backline.
They both grew up in the outer-East Melbourne suburb of Beaconsfield.
They both played football in the South East Juniors, then together for the Dandenong Stingrays and Vic Country.
But this weekend, they’ll run out in the red, white and black together for the very first time.
WATCH: Team selection: Round 10
The man who spotted the pair dominating for Dandenong and has been closely watching their development since their arrival at St Kilda is State Recruiting Manager Chris Liberatore.
Rice and White represented the Dandenong Stingrays together.
‘Libba’ remembers being immediately impressed at the duo’s toughness, and the recruiter was struck by both the young pair’s complementary playing styles and their subtle differences.
“On the field, they just complemented each other really well,” Libba told saints.com.au.
“‘Ricey’ is the shorter, stockier one, while ‘Whitey’ is a bit leaner and slightly taller. They’re both incredibly tough and very good in the air, and Bailey’s a right-footer but Whitey’s a lefty.”
WATCH: Bailey makes his debut
Liberatore watched the two defenders tear up opposition sides with their dynamic run off the backline for the Stingrays.
“They’re both very explosive athletes, and they worked really well off each other,” he said.
Their courage and toughness, though, sometimes ventured into the realms of danger, according to Liberatore.
“Bailey especially would put himself into positions he really shouldn’t have,” Libba said.
“He’s incredibly brave and his teammates always appreciated it, but he’d often put his body on the line where he knew he was going to get hurt.”
Off the field, you get a sense of why they work so well together on it.
"It’s probably something they’ve talked about 100 times before... deep down they’d both know that this is a pretty special moment.”
- Chris Liberatore
The inseparable 21-year-olds come to training together, they leave together, and they study together, completing a Cert III in Fitness through the club’s internal Welfare Program.
“It got to a point where we had to say, ‘Righto, boys, it’s time to meet some new people’,” Libba recalled.
Rice and White and have been on the same playing lists for years, but after having to wait for over two full seasons, they’ll finally get their chance to play senior football together.
VFL: White and Rice outstanding
“It’s probably something they’ve talked about 100 times before on the way to Shepley Oval playing for the Stingrays,” Libba said.
“They’d have had conversations about blocking for each other, passing each other the ball … deep down they’d both know that this is a pretty special moment.”
It’s a rare thing in this fast-paced, constantly moving football world that we can stop and acknowledge that the stars have aligned for two best mates.
Best of luck, Bailey and Brandon.
