Aotearoa Kiwis & Kiwi-NRL Development Bumps For Naufahu Whyte, Wiremu Greig, Keano Kini
Along with winning games, connecting to the Aotearoa rugby league community and brewing leaders, New Zealand Kiwis coach Michael Maguire has steadily developed youngsters who want to represent Aotearoa. Maguire brought Keano Kini, Naufahu Whyte and Wiremu Greig into the Aotearoa Kiwis squad for the Pacific Championship and despite not playing, all three were able to tap in with Kiwis mana after strong NRL seasons.
Kini and Greig played for Aotearoa A against Tonga A, while Whyte earned consistent 18th-lad opportunities. Whyte was part of the game day action against Samoa and the domination of Australia featured Whyte on the sidelines, ready to chime in if required. The state of international rugby league dictates that there are not many opportunities to develop talent towards Test footy and yet coach Maguire integrated these three into the Aotearoa Kiwis mixer, after Griffin Neame and Jordan Riki earned similar call ups for mid-year Test footy in 2022.
Whyte has played 11 NRL games with three in 2021 and eight this year. It is not surprising that folks didn't know too much about Whyte when he was selected for Aotearoa Kiwis, although Whyte's pedigree is undeniable. The Niche Cache has documented Whyte's rise through the Roosters system which started while he was playing 1st 15 for Kelston Boys High School. After being a decorated student at KBHS, Whyte then won the Chris Sykes Award in 2020 for Roosters Junior Representative Player of the Year.
Ponder how Burnham/Manurewa junior Siua Wong has generated headlines and buzz since leaving Aotearoa to enter the Roosters system. Whyte has been equally as successful as Wong in the Roosters system although Wong played 1st 15 in Sydney where a different audience could view his talents. Whyte has played edge and middle in the NRL and his 2023 season featured two wins with Whyte starting at lock, playing 40+ minutes.
The Bay Roskill junior was yanked in and out of NRL footy this season, which allowed him to churn out mahi in NSW Cup. Across 11 games of reserve grade, Whyte averaged 212m/game and he played less than 60mins in just one game. This can be flipped for six consecutive games playing 80mins of NSW Cup, five of which saw him start as a middle forward.
Roosters know how good Whyte is, that is why they dipped into their salary sombrero to offer the best possible path from Auckland to Sydney. After 19 games of NSW Cup last year, Whyte has 11 games at that level with eight NRL games this year. 2023 finished with him being in Aotearoa Kiwis camp, working alongside some of the best forwards in the world and this should lead to more consistent game time next season.
Whyte is listed at 192cm tall which is the same official height as Whangarei's Greig. After leaving Cowboys for Eels early in 2021, Greig played three games for Eels prior to this year. Greig sealed a round tahi bench spot for Eels and went on to play 16 games where he offered another big body coming off the bench, while also gathering experience as a starting prop. When the stars aligned, Greig peaked with 50mins and 47mins in consecutive wins for Eels before suffering an injury.
Despite allowing Greig to waltz south and join Eels, Cowboys recruited Greig from his mahi with Northern Swords for a reason. Cowboys invested in Greig along with their cluster of Kiwi-NRL forwards and the theme of Cowboys recruiting middle forwards from Aotearoa is just as potent as Eels signing Kiwi-NRL lads from other teams and helping them improve. Greig received that Eels development bump and while it was a slow cooked process, Greig made a significant leap in his role for Eels this year before earning an Aotearoa Kiwis call up.
Eels signed Daejarn Asi (Aranui) and Jirah Momoisea (St Paul's College) from NZ Warriors and Knights respectively prior to last season. Eels recently signed Morgan Harper (Ngaruawahia) for the upcoming season and they have Te Hurinui 'Apa' Twiddle (Turangawaewae) in their wider NRL mixer after he played fullback for Eels SG Ball and Jersey Flegg. Greig is the latest example of Eels Kiwi-NRL development and this theme is built on strong foundations, so we should expect similar development boosts for these other lads.
Whyte averaged 212m/game in NSW Cup and Kini averaged 199m/game in Queensland Cup this year, despite being much smaller than Whyte. Northcote junior Kini has been simmering in the Titans system after leaving Aotearoa and there was plenty of noise about Kini's mahi with the Titans NRL squad last summer, which set the tone for how he finished this year. In his first year of Queensland Cup with Burleigh Kini played 14 games with five tries, 13 try assists and 14 linebreaks while also averaging 199m/game.
By round 10 Kini had earned an NRL debut off the bench for Titans. This was notable because Kini plugged a hole at dummy half for Titans and his intuitive play set up the winning try vs Eels. Kini started all 14 Queensland Cup games at fullback and made his NRL debut defending in the middle, highlighting the sneaky toughness of Kini which is also evident every time he runs the footy into a cluster of NRL monsters.
Kini played two games at fullback for Titans, with four games coming off the bench. Whyte and Greig are likely to build on their Aotearoa Kiwis squad selection with consistent bench roles next season, while snapping up any opportunity to start. Kini on the other hand, is paddling through a murky estuary as Titans have AJ Brimson and Jayden Campbell as their leading fullbacks.
Titans also have Kieran Foran, Tom Weaver and Tanah Boyd as halves along with plenty of hooking/small middle forward depth in Erin Clark, Chris Randall and Sam Verrills. Kini's best position is fullback and he has already shown that he can add value as a bench utility, yet Titans are flush with decent NRL performers in those positions. After showcasing his talent in Burleigh's Queensland Cup final loss this season, Kini will probably settle in reserve grade as he gathers more experience as a fullback against fringe NRL talent.
A positive wrinkle for Titans is how many of these lads are lovely blokes who seem content and grateful for their situations. Campbell is as wholesome as NRL players get and he has consistently done whatever is required for the Titans despite not being graced with a steady role. Kini is similar, so don't expect any niggle from Kini and new coach Des Hasler may have some quirky plans to get Kini more NRL minutes next season.
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