KEY POINTS:
For Michael White, it is very much the case of tomorrow being the first day of the rest of his life. At least in a footballing sense.
White, who was born in Wales but has lived in New Zealand since he was 9, has been tossed a lifeline by Waitakere United. He will start for them against Team Wellington in tomorrow's New Zealand Football Championship game at Trusts Stadium.
It has been a tumultuous 12 months for the 20-year-old, who played for Canterbury United in last season's NZFC grand final against Auckland City, when he booted home one of the southern team's penalties in the shoot-out but still came up short when the spoils where handed out.
He later played for New Zealand under-20s in their successful 2-1 series win in Australia.
While there, he was watched by then incoming New Zealand Knights coach Paul Nevin and offered a contract as one of the under-20 players in the professional team.
The estimated 400 to 500 minutes of game-time he saw with them might not seem much but it was, he says, more than Jeremy Brockie got the previous season.
"It could have been more but I was out with an injury for six weeks," said White, who stood down from the game against Perth Glory to allow a speedier fulfilment of the one-month stand-down in switching from a professional to an amateur club.
"Having to stand down has made me hungrier. It is going to be good to get out and play again.
"I'm just looking forward to the opportunity to go out and cause some havoc."
There will be more than passing interest in what he does.
Still eligible for the New Zealand under-20s team despite being stuck on the not required list by coach Stu Jacobs for the Oceania Championships, he could play his way into the squad which will represent the confederation at the Fifa under-20s World Cup in Canada this year.
He is also a contender for the Olympic (under-23) team and the All Whites. Both will be selected and coached by Ricki Herbert, who will be leaning over the fence when White turns out tomorrow.
Of suggestions that White had somehow played his way out of the under-20s by his performance with New Zealand A in Vietnam last year, Herbert, who coached the Knights through the last few weeks of last season, has an open mind.
"He needs to get back and be playing regular football," Herbert said. "It is, in my mind, not too late for him to press his claims for the under-20s and, beyond that, the Olympic team and the All Whites.
"While he was with me at the Knights, he was absolutely excellent. I certainly have not left him out of my thinking. He has every opportunity now to show us what he is capable of."
Steve Cain, who has welcomed him as an addition to his Waitakere squad, dismisses any suggestion that he arrived with a disruptive tag.
"He has fitted in superbly. He has a great attitude. A lot of young players turn up feeling the game owes them something," said Cain. "He is the exact opposite."
Cain said he was happy to pitch him into the starting Xl for the game of the round.
Although Cain knows what to expect from White, he is not so sure what Team Wellington will throw at them.
"To be honest, I would rather they were coming here after winning 5-0 than losing 5-0. I expect we will cop something on the rebound."
Clinging to a four-point lead, Waitakere cannot afford any slips, given their tough schedule in the next couple of weeks - games against Auckland City and YoungHeart Manawatu in the NZFC and New Caledonia's Mont Dore in the O-League.
In other games in an all-Sunday round this weekend, City are away to a rejuvenated Hawkes Bay, Manawatu travel to play Otago United and Waikato meet a hurting Canterbury United in Hamilton.
