White was a key member of the Dragon's Jersey Flegg Cup team but leg and ankle injuries halted his progress in 2003 and 2004. With props such as Luke Bailey and Jason Ryles ahead of him, White was unable to make his way into first-grade and he relocated to the Melbourne Storm. White made his first-grade début in Round one, 2005, scoring a try against the Newcastle Knights at Olympic Park. At the end of the season he was named the Storm's Rookie of the Year after becoming Robbie Kearns' starting front-row partner. He was a member of the Melbourne Storm team to face the Brisbane Broncos in the 2006 NRL Grand Final, losing 15–8. The next year he was a member of the winning grand final against Manly. White played in the 2008 NRL Grand Final defeat by the Manly Sea Eagles. He played in the 2009 premiership against Parramatta. In 2010, both premierships that White won with Melbourne were stripped by the NRL for major and deliberate breaches of the salary cap. In August 2014, White officially announced he would be retiring from the NRL at the end of the season.
Controversies
White's first grade career have involved some controversial incidents. In round 14, 2006, White lodged a biting complaint against Parramatta's Fuifui Moimoi for which Moimoi was later exonerated after a lengthy judiciary hearing. He was also again in the act against Parramatta in 2007, accused of a chicken wing tackle on their captain Nathan Cayless in that year's preliminary final. In round two, 2008, White was sent off for retaliating to a Ben Ross elbow to team-mate Cooper Cronk which also saw Ross sent off. Cronk's kick found Israel Folau who scored the match-levelling try. He was given a four match ban. In 2009, White was involved in an infamous Origin scuffle with Steve Price in Game 3 of the State of Origin series.
Representative career
In 2006, White made his representative début in the Country Origin team, defeating City by 12–10. White was selected to represent New South Wales as a front-rower for game I and on the bench for game II of the 2007 State of Origin series. In 2008, White made himself available for Ireland's 2008 Rugby League World Cup campaign and in August he was named in the Ireland training squad. Although White was named in the Irish squad, he was forced to withdraw following the NRL grand final, when he was scheduled for foot surgery. White was also named in the 46-man Australian preliminary squad for the World Cup. White played in the opening two State of Origin matches for New South Wales in 2010, scoring a try in the second match, but was dropped for the third game.
Steve Price incident
Game 3 of the 2009 series also saw White return to State of Origin, playing a leading role in a controversial NSW victory. In the closing stages of the contest White was involved in a scuffle with Queensland prop Steve Price which left Price unconscious.
