For most rugby historians the greatest intrigue from the career of Graham Whiting may lie in the fact that he was a principal eye witness to the incidents at a Cardiff hotel involving Keith Murdoch which led to that player being expelled from the 1972-73 touring party in Britain. A big powerful man himself at around 1.90m and upwards of 110kgs, Whiting, also a prop, was a boon companion of Murdoch and his own boisterous nature may have contributed to the fact, too, that Whiting, too, did not quite deliver his full potential. But despite his propensity for high jinks Whiting, who was nicknamed "Moose," was a jovial man who was extremely popular with team-mates. Originally a lock in his home town in Taumarunui, Whiting was switched to prop and while perhaps a little too big for the position soon made an impact with his size and strength in the King Country representative sides then being captained by the legendary Colin Meads. Whiting's first season with King Country was in 1969 when he played in a spirited Ranfurly Shield challenge against Hawke's Bay which was lost narrowly 19-16. In 1969 Whiting also played for the New Zealand Juniors against Tonga and in 1970, before the tour of South Africa, had the first of his nine All Black trials. He was in the combined Wanganui-King Country side which met the 1971 British Lions and in 1972 had another outstanding season highlighted by his selection for the All Blacks. That year he also had his one appearance for the North Island. He made his All Black debut with six matches on the internal tour of 1972 and with Murdoch out injured appeared as a loosehead prop in the first two tests against the touring Wallabies. He played in 20 matches on the tour of Britain and France and Murdoch's misfortune meant he played the internationals against Scotland, Ireland, England and France. To his credit he lifted his standard immensely and he and another young prop who was suddenly promoted, Kent Lambert, won much praise for the efforts against a redoubtable Scotland pairing of Ian McLauchlan and Sandy Carmichael. But Whiting soon faded from the national scene on his return home. He played in three of the matches on the 1973 internal tour, two of which were losses to the New Zealand Juniors and the Meads' led President's XV. But though he appeared in three of the trials in 1974 Whiting was excluded from the tours to Australia and then at the end of the year to Ireland. Whiting had played in 106 first class matches, including 63 for King Country and 31 for the All Blacks and six tests, when he ended his career at the top level after the 1974 season. In 1975 he tried his hand at rugby league in Auckland but did not have quite the agility needed for that code and did not make a successful adjustment. Under the archaic and unjust reinstatement rules then in force Whiting as an international could not return to rugby. Playing at the same time was another Whiting, the Auckland lock Peter or "Pole." The pair, though often in the same sides, were not related.