Cooper Whyte (born 24 February 2003) is an
Australian rules footballer
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
who currently plays for the
Werribee Football Club in the
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...
(VFL). He previously played for
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
in the
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...
(AFL).
Whyte was selected with pick 64 in the
2021 AFL draft
The 2021 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) could trade and recruit players during and following the completion of the 2021 AFL season.
The National Draft returned to being a t ...
. Whyte made his AFL debut in round 2 of the
2023 AFL season
The 2023 AFL season was the 127th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 16 March to 30 September, comprising a 23-m ...
against
Carlton as the tactical sub.
Career
Juniors
Educated at
Grovedale College
Grovedale College (formerly known as Grovedale Secondary College) is an Australian public high school located in Grovedale, Victoria, a suburb in the city of Geelong. It was established in 1979 as the Grovedale Technical High School. Under the ...
, Whyte played both Australian rules football and basketball during his junior career, spending three years as part of the
Geelong Supercats program.
In 2021, he would finish as runner-up in the
Geelong Falcons
The Geelong Falcons is a youth Australian rules football representative club in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition in Victoria, Australia.
The club takes in talented junior players from the Geelong, Colac and Warr ...
best-and-fairest, behind fellow future draftee
Mitch Knevitt.
Before being drafted by Geelong, Whyte was a supporter.
Described as a swift midfielder with a long left foot kick, Whyte was identified by AFL recruiters ahead of the
2021 AFL draft
The 2021 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) could trade and recruit players during and following the completion of the 2021 AFL season.
The National Draft returned to being a t ...
, eventually being selected by Geelong with pick 64.
AFL
A groin injury kept Whyte out of the Geelong team during much of the
2022 AFL season
The 2022 AFL season was the 126th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featur ...
,
restricted to just the first four games playing with Geelong's VFL team. After impressing during preseason training ahead of the
2023 AFL season
The 2023 AFL season was the 127th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 16 March to 30 September, comprising a 23-m ...
,
Whyte made his AFL debut for Geelong, coming off the interchange bench as the tactical sub for the last quarter in Geelong's round 2 loss against Carlton.
Whyte was delisted by Geelong at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
VFL
Whyte became a VFL premiership player in
2024
The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
, playing for Werribee in a six-point grand final victory over .
References
External links
Cooper Whyte's profile (archived)on the official website of the Geelong Football Club.
2003 births
Living people
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
Geelong Football Club players
Geelong Falcons players
21st-century Australian sportsmen
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