Remembering ‘Lippy’: Mark Robinson on the mystery, life and legacy of Peter White at Mount Pleasant

The rooms at Mount Pleasant footy club will once again pay tribute to Peter “Lippy” White on Saturday, 27 years after his shocking passing. Mark Robinson reflects on the tragedy.

Not for the first time, a toast will he had for Peter “Lippy” White in the Mount Pleasant rooms at Toolleen on Saturday night.

The “Mounts” are a Heathcote and District League powerhouse and after playing Colbinabbin at home, the barrels, the wine and no doubt the Jim Beam cans will be given a hiding when the club celebrates a bunch of premierships.

There’s the 1923, 1983 and 1993 flags and being a traditional country community, where netball is played in conjunction on the courts beside the footy ground, the Mounts will also toast the B graders of 1973, the C grade of 1993 and the A reserve premiers of 2013.

It will be a raucous night and true and tall tales will be told.

There will be a hollowness, too.

Peter White was just 23 when he was captain coach of the ’93 premiership team.

He was a local legend already. He won Mount’s senior best and fairest at just 16-years-old and, with a couple of blokes named Johnny Craig and Dougal Aiken, he could lay claim to being Mount’s greatest ever player.

White made it all the way to Carlton from Mount Pleasant, where he played three senior games. Indeed, the news of his first-game selection was the back page lead story in The Sun, which knocked off the second story, which was Tony Lockett being fined $2000 for some Lockett shenanigans.

Mick White, Chris Nihill, Wes White and David McNamara with picture of Peter White ahead of this weekend’s reunion. Picture: Rob Leeson.

But Lippy can’t be there on Saturday night.

On Derby Day in 1996, White, his father Cliff and great mate Mark Bell went crayfishing in a 4m half-cabin cruiser off Port Campbell. They left the jetty at 7.30am and were scheduled to meet Peter’s twin brother Wes and dad’s mate Gus Roulston in the pub about 1pm.

But they never got there. And they were never seen again.

It’s thought an unrepentant Southern Ocean wave picked up the boat and slammed it into rocks. Debris was found later by police. A key ring, life jackets and some footwear. And a bit of human flesh.

The tragedy was widely felt in the Bendigo district. The Whites were a well known sporting family. Peter played at Mounts with his brothers Mick, Wes and Dean and, to this day, Mounts v Heathcote – who they beat in the Grand Final in ’93 – play off for the Cliff and Peter White Memorial Shield.

A plaque also sits on a wall at the Bendigo-Eaglehawk cemetery where Lippy worked.

Wes remembers the harrowing day with vivid recollection.

Now 52, he says: “I can tell you everything I did on the day, to the letter. The police turned up at 8 at night and they said we might have to pay for search planes, and I said, ‘I don’t care, get them up’. There were boats out there. A couple of dad’s mates were in the pub when I called and they went out. Planes were up there looking the next day.”

It was a sorrowful sliding doors moment for Wes.

“I got on the boat at the jetty and got off,’’ he says.

“I said to the boys, I can’t leave Gus back at the house by himself, so I got off.

“And then they didn’t turn up at the pub. I rang the publican at 4pm and he sent out a search party and they didn’t find anything. The police actually said they found a bit of flesh floating in the water and they DNA’d it, and they DNA’d me and some of the Bell family, and they reckon it was a part of Lippy’s midriff. They reckon he probably hit a reef in there. They never found the boat.

“Gus was chairman of selectors for Lippy in ’93.

“I think about him every day. There’s always something around. Being a twin, it’s pretty hard not to. It’s bloody hard but that’s life, we’re not the only family it’s happened to.

“We played everything together, marbles, fighting, footy, you name it.”

It was big news in The Sun in 1996.

The trio – Peter White, his father Cliff and Mark Bell – were never seen again.

A rover, half-forward, Lippy made an immediate impression when he arrived at Carlton in 1988.

He kicked 13 goals in his first under-19s game and was elevated to the reserves the following week. He played mainly reserves that year under Colin Kinnear, but still won the under-19s best and fairest playing a handful of games.

He made his senior debut against Collingwood, under Robert Walls, in Round 8, and collected 12 possessions playing alongside Stephen Kernahan, Craig Bradley, Adrian Gleeson, Justin Madden, Wayne Johnston and David Rhys-Jones.

From Toolleen to Waverley Park, the crowd that day was 61,237.

Kinnear says: “He played in the reserves with me, he came from up around Bendigo.

“He was a good, young kid. In those days, the lists were very strong. The reserves side had Harmes and Buckley and some of those players in it.

“He was a product of Bendigo area and we had some wonderful players who came down from that area. Peter played thirds and went into the seconds, he was one, of course Stephen Oliver who was a real talent, and Brendan Hartney before them.

“I always admired kids who came down in those days because it wasn’t easy.

“Peter took the opportunity to play at the highest level and it doesn’t matter if you play one game or two games, you’ve got to be credited for it, and I admire him greatly for that.

“He was an in-and-under player, and had a real attack on the ball. What I can remember, he was an old fashioned rover, hit the front of the pack and worked hard.

“I can remember when he went missing … it was so terribly sad. I’m pleased that he will be remembered in the positive way with what’s going to occur at the weekend.’’

Peter and Cliff before the tragedy.

In 1990, White hurt his knee and the Blues wanted him to go to Prahran to play.

Wes: “He said nuh, he’d rather get back to Mounts and play. He rang ‘Ninga’ O’Connell (coach) in the pub on Thursday night and said he was coming home to play that Saturday. Ninga thought it was bullsh**. But he played the last five or so games and we won the flag.’’

He returned to the Blues for the 1991 season and played one senior game, against Adelaide in Round 17. Then it was back to Mounts for the 1993 premiership and then back-to-back flags in ‘94.

“Saturday night will be a celebration of the flag and of Lippy,’’ Wes said.

“I’m proud of what he did. To come back and coach the club was bloody fantastic.

After the trio went missing in ‘96, a lot of the blokes from the ’93-94 sides came back to play in 1997. They won the flag again.

“Murray Collins coached and they were down on their bare feet in the grand final and they got up and won. For sure, they were doing it for Lippy. They all said that.’’

White returned to Mounts with new-found professionalism. Yes, he liked a beer and a good time, but learnt a lot under Kinnear and Walls.

Craig says Lippy brought back Walls’ famous huddle tactic, which had the players gathering at centre half-back for kick ins and making multiple leads from there – and stressed that “red time” goals (goals in time on) were crucial.

Peter played three senior games for Carlton

Everyone who could joined in the search.

Long time mate Craig met the White family at a christening at Swan Hill and was persuaded to join Mounts.

“He brought a couple of things to the table from the AFL like the importance of playing out each quarter to the end, he introduced the switch to Mounts, the huddle,’’ Craig said.

“He was a great bloke, funny on the piss, cheeky, positive, happy-go-lucky, an Aussie larrikin.’’

Wes: “Yeah, he was well respected. He changed the culture at Mounts. There were blokes smoking in the rooms at half-time and he canned all that. He cut a bit of the grog out. He had the respect from everyone and the club hasn’t looked back.’’

Why he didn’t play more AFL games is unknown.

In 1996, he left Mounts for Kyabram in the Goulburn Valley Football and was named best afield in the grand final win against Tatura.

“He would’ve had 50 possessions and I remember Garry Lyon saying, what’s this bloke still doing in the GV?,’’ Wes said.

“He was too smart for them.

“You know he was the only player to represent the Bendigo interleague team playing for Mounts who were in the Heathcote league. It was 1993.’’

Craig says it will be “a bit empty” in the rooms on Saturday night.

“It’s been a bit empty since they disappeared the boys,’’ he said.

For Wes, his intent will be to celebrate his brother, as the mates do every Derby Day.

“It took a long time to get over it,’’ he said.

“Just the uncertainty of what happened is still there. But you learn to live with it.

“It has bonded the brothers a lot more. Mum and dad had split up for a long time before it happened, but it affected us pretty badly. Mum still does it hard.”

Originally published as Remembering ‘Lippy’: Mark Robinson on the mystery, life and legacy of Peter White at Mount Pleasant