Front-rower Naufahu Whyte is having a breakout campaign at the Sydney Roosters this season, and is a contender to be named in the 2025 Dally M Team of the Year.
After representing the New Zealand Kiwis at the end of 2024, Whyte has taken his game to a new level this season, becoming one of the best forwards in the competition.
Only 53 matches into his playing career, the 23-year-old is seen as the heir to Jared Warea-Hargreaves at the Roosters, and has already found himself compared to Kiwi greats Joseph Tapine, Moses Leota and James Fisher-Harris.
However, like many Auckland-born players, he could have easily decided to chase the All Blacks dream rather than playing in the NRL.
A centre in his younger years in both codes, he has always had a love for rugby league more than he did for the rival code.
Asked why he chose to go down the rugby league route instead of playing rugby union - a sport he started playing first - Whyte admitted that it was the quickness of the game that drew him in.
"The brutality, the contact, the speed of the game and physicality, it's all there," said Whyte.
"Growing up, I used to watch Jared (Warea-Hargreaves), Sam Burgess, all those boys, and just seeing the contract.
"Seeing the way they play the game was (why) I wanted to go down, and I took this league journey on, and I never looked back.
"You feel as much when you watch it on TV than when you play. I was kind of doing both, but then I had this love for league, and it was just a different game."
Recently extending his contract with the Roosters for another three years, Whyte is signed until the end of 2029 and admitted that he hopes to spend the rest of his career at the Bondi-based outfit, in which he has become an integral part of the club's forward pack.
In declaring his hope to remain a one-club player, he pulled the door shut on a potential move to the 15-man code.
This comes as the rebel competition known as R360 has its sights on several rugby league stars, including Angus Crichton, Jye Gray, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Zac Lomax, among others.
"I took this pathway and I never looked back, where I don't think I'll ever go to union again," said Whyte.
"I look to stay here and play the rest of my footy in the red, white and blue."
