As the Sydney Roosters prepare to face the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park this Saturday, veteran Roosters enforcer Naufahu Whyte says the 15th-place ladder position of the perennial powerhouse means nothing. For Whyte, who has followed the Storm since early childhood, the Melbourne side has been a consistent benchmark of excellence in the National Rugby League (NRL) for nearly two decades.
Calculated from when Whyte first started watching rugby league at age four, the Storm have only fallen short of a top-four finish on three occasions since the 2006 season. That long history of dominance is why Whyte admits he remains stunned by the club’s underwhelming 2026 form, even as he prepares his side for a brutal battle on the Storm’s home turf.
“I’ve watched Storm growing up my whole life and never once did I see them outside the top four. So it’s crazy, man,” Whyte told NewsWire. “But that’s footy sometimes, and things don’t always go your way. When we go down there this week, we’re not going to expect any less from them … On the ladder or whatever doesn’t mean anything. Melbourne Storm is still Melbourne Storm, and they’re still a hard team to beat down in Melbourne.”
Whyte knows firsthand how tough the Storm can be: he has only claimed victory once in six career appearances against them. The Roosters as a whole have also struggled against the NRL’s two modern powerhouses, Melbourne and the Penrith Panthers, notching just three wins from their last 27 combined matches against the two sides. Yet recent history gives the Roosters confidence heading into this weekend’s clash.
Last year, the Roosters righted their wrongs against the Storm with a stunning come-from-behind thrashing in Melbourne, where they scored 40 unanswered points in the second half to lock in the win. Earlier this 2026 season, the Roosters pulled off an upset against the Panthers in a round two clash, securing victory despite being missing several key starting players.
“I think people sleep on us a lot about going up against Penrith and Storm,” Whyte said. “I know stats-wise it hasn’t shown, but I’ll back our team to beat any pack at the end of the day. When we’re at our best, we can beat anyone that stands in front of us.”
Whyte added that those two upset wins have reshaped the squad’s belief that they can compete with the league’s elite. “That win towards the back end of the year going into finals and everything definitely was a huge leap for us and gave us confidence going into that finals series even if it didn’t come off the way we wanted it to,” he explained. “Even at the start of the season against Panthers, we didn’t have anybody and we still managed to come away with the win. So it just goes to show we can compete with the top teams, and I believe that we are a top team in this comp. I know when we’re at our best, I know a lot of teams fear us being at our best.”
Leading the forward pack this Saturday, Whyte will count on valuable support from impact substitute Nat Butcher, who is currently playing the best football of his 10-year NRL career. Butcher, who made his league debut in 2016, has filled multiple roles for the Roosters across his career, shifting between middle forward, edge position, and his current role off the interchange bench. This season, he is averaging a career-high 112 running metres per game, and put up a massive 182-metre performance with a try against Brisbane just weeks ago.
Whyte credits Butcher’s new status as a father of three for his elevated form, after Butcher and his wife welcomed twin daughters in January that expanded their young family to five children. “I think he is in his career-best form right now,” Whyte said. “I kind of look at him and he’s got a little family of his own now, and you obviously just see that dad strength in him coming out. That mentality of wanting to provide for his family, that’s how I see him, and he’s playing his best footy. Big minutes, big carries, big tackles. He’s been doing that for a very long time, but I feel like it’s just this time around he’s getting his flowers, and he’s getting his recognition of what he does in the game.”
Butcher himself says his career-best form comes after a frustrating injury-plagued 2025 season that forced him to miss extensive game time, which ultimately rekindled his appreciation for the sport. “I had a horrid year last year with the injury. That was super frustrating and I missed the game heaps, missed playing, missed being around the team, missed so many of those little things that you just don’t get to experience when you’re injured and on the sidelines,” Butcher said. “I had the amazing support of my wife, Harmony, and got to have some great time with my son, Beau, that you just wouldn’t get in the thick of the season. That was super grateful and it also put into perspective my love for the game, my love for the club, and my love for my teammates.”
“I’m not sure if I can pinpoint anything. I think I just love what I’m doing,” he added.