Coach Trent Robinson was among those to encourage a leaf taken out of Waerea-Hargreaves’ book over the past two years, given Whyte was at times deferring to the Kiwi legend and a representative cohort like Siosiua Taukeiaho and Collins at training.

When Waerea-Hargreaves took 316 games of NRL experience out the door with him last season, Whyte had already played his way into a New Zealand Test debut.

His post-season review with Robinson crystalised Whyte’s standing at the club, six months before the rest of the rugby league world caught up.

“I always tell everyone, ever since Jared and that all left, I just felt for myself I had to step up,” Whyte says.

“[Robinson] was always telling me, ‘You’re stepping into that next role now’.

“At the end of the day, you can have the talks with coaches and stuff, but if you don’t action it throughout [the] pre-season and then coming into the season, then there’s no point, so I took that personally.”

As the Roosters chase a fourth straight win against Parramatta on Saturday night, they have emerged as both one of the NRL’s form sides and a finals dark horse.

Whyte is a key pillar of their rise into the top eight. Canberra’s Kaeo Weekes probably shades him for sheer improvement from one season to the next given Whyte’s New Zealand debut last year.

The NRL’s latest elite Kiwi prop will potentially come across a Joe Tapine, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota or Nelson Asofa-Solomona come finals time.

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As a schoolboy at Auckland’s Kelston Boys High – whose alumni include All Blacks great Mils Muliaina and Kiwi internationals Jarrod McCracken, Awen Guttenbeil and Matt Rua – Whyte excelled at both rugby and league.

Interest from Super Rugby franchises Auckland and Waikato was rebuffed given Whyte was one of few Kiwi kids preferring the 13-man game, with his eyes long set on “wearing the black jersey”.

“I’m half Tongan and half Samoan and hopefully one day I get to represent the red and blue jerseys but New Zealand’s my home,” Whyte says.

“That’s where I was born, it’s where I grew up and my childhood, my family and friends all came from there. I want to represent where I came from in the black jersey.”

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