He announced himself as the Sydney Roosters' brutal forward pack enforcer last year, but Naufahu Whyte claims he's far from the glamour club's strongest player.
Whyte followed his career-best 2025 season with goals of improving every aspect of his game at the new-look Roosters, who take NRL premiership aspirations into 2026.
"Every time I finish a year, I kind of reset. I always think I can do better in every aspect," he said.
But ahead of Friday's round-one clash against the Warriors, Whyte says diminutive utility Connor Watson, and some of the outside backs, are still outperforming him in the gym.
"Gym strength-wise, I'm not that strong," the fearsome front-rower said.
"People think I lift heavy, but I just tell them, 'I'm not too heavy, bro, 12, 12.5kgs'. It's light work.
"You've even got outside backs who can lift heavy, Connor Watson lifts heavy, even though he's that small, he lifts more than me."
Whyte says it's in battle that he finds his strength.
The 23-year-old excelled last year with the lofty task of following the Roosters' most-capped player Jared Waerea-Hargreaves as the leader of the forward pack.
Whyte ran a career-best 148 metres per game, and among all NRL forwards, only Payne Haas and Addin Fonua-Blake averaged more post-contact metres.
The affable Kiwi puts his success down to heart and hard work on the field rather than gym reps.
"When we play, it's kind of a different story. When I run that ball, when I'm going in for a hit or tackle, I'm going to make sure they feel that impact," he said.
"It's just all heart, man. If you believe in yourself and know that you can go get the job done, you back yourself to go do it."
That's what Whyte says it'll take to reprise his imperious form in 2026 as the Roosters add Daly Cherry-Evans and Reece Robson to an already talented roster.
"Back to work. Back to my routine, back to consistency of what I've been doing. I just keep my head down and keep working hard, man. There's no secret recipe," he said.
"I got a lot of raps, a lot of people talking about me last year but I know for myself, I haven't even scratched the surface level."
There's no better way for Whyte to recommence his upward trajectory than against an imposing Warriors pack led by Kiwis teammate James Fisher-Harris.
Whyte grew up in New Zealand and had been in the Warriors' junior system, only moving to Australia when scouted by the Roosters as a 17-year-old.
"It's always a grateful experience when you get to go back to New Zealand and play against the Warriors," he said.
"I'm keen for the match-up there."
