Michael Burgess in Brisbane
On reflection, February 1, 2017, will go down as one of the most significant days in Warriors’ history.
Although it mostly went under the radar at the time, it was a landmark moment: The day that Tohu Harris agreed a three-year deal to come to Auckland the following season.
Then with the Melbourne Storm, the 25-year-old was at the peak of his powers.
Craig Bellamy was furious to lose Harris, who had been with the club since he was 16, after being spotted in an open trial in Wellington.
It was a rare episode of the Victorian club losing a player they desperately wanted to keep, though the Storm didn’t hold any grudges and he enjoyed an impressive farewell season, culminating in a stellar performance in their 2017 grand final.
At the time Harris admitted it was going to be a huge challenge.
“I’m definitely not the magic ingredient or anything like that,” Harris told the Herald back then. “I will just go there, work as hard as I can and hopefully make a difference.”
The Warriors knew they were getting a sensational player – he had already played 16 tests, along with 117 NRL matches – but it was so much more than that.
He was a tōtara; a man of mana, integrity and discipline. Harris was the kind of person you can build a club around. He made an instant impact in 2018, as the Warriors ended a long playoff drought, then helped to hold the club together through the crazy Covid seasons. That was best epitomised last year. He returned from an ACL reconstruction with the Warriors lurching between brutal defeats and off-field dramas but never let his personal standards drop.
That is why this year has been so beautiful. For one of the rare times in his Warriors career, Harris has been able to display the full range of his talents. Far too often in the past he has been used as a cart horse, dragging the team around on his back. Under Nathan Brown he was often employed as a conventional prop forward, playing 80 minutes in the middle, grinding in the ruck and making a million tackles, while covering holes that appeared around him.
This season is different. Harris still sets an incomparable standard but many others aren’t far behind. That platform – along with the structure promoted by coach Andrew Webster – has given him a licence to use his full range of ball-playing abilities.
For someone who spends so much time in the trenches, his capacity to choose – and execute – the right pass, whether inside, outside, flat or sweeping is remarkable, giving a different dimension on attack. And he has done this despite lingering knee issues, though Harris is too humble to discuss that.
He just keeps performing, to a special level, with his display against Newcastle last Saturday another example. Across almost three decades the Warriors have had many fine captains, from Dean Bell and Kevin Campion to Simon Mannering and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. But the unassuming kid from Hastings might just be the finest of them all.
Harris always appealed as a leader but he took a while to blossom. Former Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney used to joke that Harris was so laidback, that nothing ever fazed him. He is still an easy-going character, who enjoys a laugh and his favoured rainbow Crocs attract plenty of mirth around the club. Beneath that exterior, though, is a fierce competitor, loved and respected by his teammates.
At times over the past few years he would have been immensely frustrated, watching the Storm continue to prosper while the Warriors paddled in the shallows. But he never looked back. Now Harris is part of a special new chapter for the Auckland club, which could reach another peak this weekend
New Zealand league has enjoyed many unforgettable matches in Brisbane – from the 1983 Kiwis’ rebirth to the 2008 World Cup final. There was also the 2010 Four Nations decider and twin Kiwis victories over the Kangaroos in 2014 and 2015.
You can be sure, if there is going to be another historic moment on Saturday, Harris will be at the centre of it all.