The VFL established a competition known as the Victorian Junior Football League in 1919; it was renamed "the Seconds" in 1924 (i.e., the clubs' Second XVIIIs), and "the Reserves" in 1960.[5] In between 1946 and 1959 the VFL conducted a "Thirds" competition (i.e., the clubs' Third XVIIIs), it was renamed "the Under-19s" in 1960. One of the important advantages of a "Thirds" team was seen to be that it "enable[d] players to move from team to team without the necessity of obtaining a clearance to rise from Third to Second Eighteen or vice versa".[6]
Although some sources indicate that Kanis came to Hawthorn via the Melbourne High School Old Boys Football Club (MHSOB) in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA),[7] others indicate, more strongly, that he had risen through the Hawthorn system from playing with the "Thirds",[8] to playing with the "Seconds".[9][10] and, as well the fact that he was listed, by the MHSOB, as one of the "former AFL/VFL players who started their football at MHS and/or MHSOBFC",[11] suggests that the "or" applies in his case, and that he was recruited while still a student at Melbourne High School.
In his last match for the Hawthorn club he was the captain of the team that played in the 1956 (Seconds') first semi-final, against Richmond, at the MCG on 25 August 1956 — the Hawthorn Club's first-ever appearance in a VFL final in any grade[12] — and, although Hawthorn lost the match, 5.9 (39) to 9.12 (66), Kanis was one of the Hawthorn Seconds' best players.[13]
^Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. p. 463. ISBN978-1-921496-32-5.
^Listed as 19th man in the Hawthorn Seconds team to play Collingwood on 13 May 1950 ([1] League Seconds' Teams for Tomorrow, The Argus, (Friday, 12 May 1950), p.19]) -- i.e., ten weeks prior to him captaining the MHS First XVIII in Adelaide.