Whether Naufahu Whyte receives a late promotion from the Roosters extended bench for Sunday's encounter with NZ Warriors or not, the Bay Roskill junior has been plugging holes in the Roosters forward pack to start 2023. Roosters were missing a bunch of their top-17 forwards to start this season and former Kelston Boys High School 1st 15 midfielder Whyte registered four games during this phase which is already his career-best tally.

In these four games, Whyte had three wins and played 20+ minutes in each game. His only start was also his busiest outing with 11 runs - 109m @ 9.9m/run, 2 tackle busts and 18 tackles @ 95% in 40 minutes as Roosters defeated Warriors in round two. That came after Whyte played 39mins off the bench in the first game of the season, which is especially funky considering that Whyte didn't play an NRL game last year.

Whyte made his debut in 2021 and played three games. Then he slipped down the Roosters depth chart and churned out hearty mahi in NSW Cup, racking up 19 games for North Sydney Bears. It was a bummer that Whyte didn't kick on in 2021 but his pedigree and the mana of Roosters ensured that as long as Whyte stayed solid, this would boost his development.

In those 19 games of NSW Cup last season, Whyte averaged 106m/game. In three games of NSW Cup this season, Whyte has exploded with 172m/game. That stems from playing 70mins, 57mins and 77mins in his three appearances, which clearly lays out the progress Whyte has made in the Roosters system.

For the Anzac Day win over Dragons, Whyte was a late inclusion wearing #20 and he was typically efficient with 6 runs - 59m @ 9.8m/run and 10 tackles @ 100%. Whyte is named as #20 again for the trip to Mt Smart and if he isn't called up to the NRL team, Whyte is likely to play the Warriors vs Roosters NSW Cup game beforehand.

This throws up a few intriguing Kiwi-NRL tentacles...

Former Mt Albert Grammar student Siua Wong is a trendy Roosters junior and deservedly so given all he has done in the Roosters system since leaving Auckland. Wong played for Fiji at the World Cup but has been stashed away in NSW Cup, like Whyte was last season. Wong will earn his NRL promotion soon enough, yet Whyte is the bloke who has snapped up bench minutes this season.

Whyte was already in the Roosters system while playing 1st 15 for Kelston Boys. His also made the 2018 NZRL Residents Under 16 and 2019 NZRL Residents Under 18 squads in league. Whyte then progressed through the Roosters system and was named their Junior Representative Player of the Year in 2020. This differs slightly to Wong and Sitili Tupouniua (Marist/MAGS) as they were more sneaky recruits from the same area in Auckland, while Whyte was commanding attention through his mahi in both codes.

Whyte, Tupouniua and Wong are high quality Kiwi-NRL youngsters. Like Tupouniua, Whyte has already made an impact in NRL and has quickly snapped up opportunities when they swing his way. Even though he might not play in the NRL game at Mt Smart, Whyte is highly likely to enjoy some footy in front of friends and whanau in his hometown on Sunday afternoon.

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