Born in south London and from a humble rugby background at Battersea Ironsides, the scrum-half spent brief spells in Bristol and Harlequins’ Academies before being spotted by Sarries playing in the Rosslyn Park 7s.

He had previously spent time at full-back and fly-half before committing to his favoured number nine slot

Under the watchful eye of Richard Wigglesworth and Ben Spencer, Whiteley has grown into a leader, captaining Saracens Storm on a number of occasions, helping them to the Premiership Rugby Shield title in 2018/19.

In the same season, he scored on his first Premiership start away to Bristol Bears having featured at home in Europe for the first time earlier on in the campaign.