Born: January 7, 1992 – Hastings Test record: 16 Tests (2013-16) – 2 tries (8 points) Tours: 2014 Four Nations, 2015 tour of England, 2016 Four Nations
A champion forward at Melbourne Storm and the Warriors, Tohu Harris featured in several momentous victories among 16 Test appearances across a lamentably short four-season Kiwis tenure.
The Hastings Boys’ High pupil and promising rugby union player was scouted by the Storm and became a mainstay of their NYC team in 2011, before representing the Junior Kiwis in 2011-12.
Making his NRL debut as a second-rower in the opening round of 2013, the 21-year-old was a shock selection on the Kiwis’ Anzac Test bench after just six top-grade games for Melbourne. He played 25 games in an outstanding rookie campaign and was named in New Zealand’s World Cup squad but was controversially cut when Sonny Bill Williams backflipped on his decision to make himself available.
Harris was at the centre of another Anzac Test selection surprise in 2014, chosen at five-eighth in a new-look line-up and scoring a try in a gutsy 30-18 loss in Sydney. He subsequently came off the bench in all four of the Kiwis’ Four Nations matches – including the tournament-opening win over Australia in Brisbane and the victory against the Kangaroos in the Wellington-hosted final.
By now an automatic pick in the New Zealand side, Harris was in the second-row for the 2015 Anzac Test and all three matches of the series loss in England – crossing for a try in the first clash at Hull. He again displayed his versatility during 2016, featuring at centre in the Anzac Test and – after playing in Melbourne’s grand final loss to Cronulla – lining up in the second-row throughout the Four Nations until reverting to five-eighth for the loss to Australia in the final at Anfield.
That would be Harris’ last appearance for New Zealand, however, with a luckless run of injuries contributing to repeatedly making himself unavailable for midyear Tests and end-of-season campaigns.
Nevertheless, he remained one of the NRL’s most valuable forwards and farewelled the Storm with a premiership ring after starring in their 2017 grand final win over North Queensland.
Harris reunited with former Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney at the Warriors in 2018 and helped spearhead their return to the finals after a seven-year absence. He was the club’s Player of the Year in and a Dally M Second-rower of the Year in 2020 after playing every game in the Warriors’ COVID-stricken campaign.
Phenomenally hardworking on both sides of the ball and a superb playmaker in the middle of the field, Harris suffered an ACL injury during 2021 but took over the Warriors’ captaincy upon his return in 2022.
Harris was an outstanding leader for the resurgent Warriors in 2023 – playing more than 20 games for the first time since 2016 as his side surged to a top-four finish and a preliminary final – but a wrist injury brought a premature end to his 2024 season.
By the end of 2024, Harris had played exactly 117 NRL games for both the Storm and Warriors.