Chanel Harris-Tavita

Chanel Harris-Tavita

Personal information
Full name	Chanel Harris-Tavita
Born	(1999-04-03) 3 April 1999 (age 25) Auckland, New Zealand
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	89 kg (14 st 0 lb)
Playing information
Position	Five-eighth, Halfback, Fullback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2019– New Zealand Warriors 71 11 63 1 171 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2019– Samoa 7 4 0 0 16 2022 Māori All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1] As of 23 August 2024

Chanel Harris-Tavita (born 3 April 1999) is a Samoan international rugby league footballer who plays as a five-eighth, halfback or fullback and currently plays for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Background

Harris-Tavita was born in Auckland, New Zealand and is of Samoan descent. His grandfather Ray Harris represented New Zealand Maori and Auckland.^[2][3]

Playing career

2016-2018

A clever ball player, he was named the New Zealand Warriors 2017 NYC player of the year.^[4]

Harris-Tavita made his NYC debut on his 17th birthday in 2016 and, after two seasons in the under-20 grade, was moved up to develop his game in the Intrust Super Premiership in 2018.^[4]

2019-2020

In round 4 of the 2019 NRL season, Harris-Tavita made his NRL debut against the Gold Coast Titans. He was viewed as Shaun Johnson long term replacement, who signed with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in late 2018.^[5]

He made 13 appearances for the New Zealand Warriors in both of the 2019 and 2020 seasons as the club missed out on the finals.^[6]

2021

In round 9 of the 2021 NRL season, he scored two tries in a 38-32 loss against Manly-Warringah. He made a total of 11 appearances for the club which saw New Zealand once again miss out on the finals.^[7]

2022

Following New Zealand's record 70-10 loss to Melbourne in round 8 of the 2022 NRL season, it was revealed that Harris-Tavita suffered a ruptured testicle during the game which required surgery. Harris-Tavita was then ruled out from playing indefinitely.^[8] In May 2022, Harris-Tavita announced he was taking a hiatus from rugby league at the end of the season. Harris-Tavita cited that he had lost the passion for playing the game and was going to spend his time traveling and writing.^[9][10]

In October Harris-Tavita was named in the Samoa squad for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.^[11] Harris-Tavita played for Samoa in their Rugby League World Cup final loss to Australia. During the second half, Harris-Tavita was knocked out after being hit in the head by Australia's Angus Crichton. Harris-Tavita played no further part in the match.^[12]

2023

After the World Cup the previous year, Harris-Tavita travelled Europe as part of his hiatus from rugby league. In May 2023, it was announced Harris-Tavita would return to the New Zealand Warriors, signing a two-year deal from 2024.^[13]

2024

He played 17 games for the New Zealand Warriors in the 2024 NRL season which saw the club finish 13th on the table.^[14]

References

1. Rugby League Project
2. "Rugby league: The making of Chanel Harris-Tavita - Why the Warriors' latest NRL prodigy is no overnight sensation". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
3. "Rugby league: NZ Warriors' Chanel Harris-Tavita follows in grandfather's footsteps with Māori All Stars selection". NewsHub. 5 February 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
4. "Chanel Harris-Tavita". Warriors. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
5. "NRL experts predict Chanel Harris-Tavita to fill Shaun Johnson's boots at Warriors". 1 News. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
6. "Warriors to make finals in 2021". www.nrl.com.
7. "St George Illawarra beats Canterbury Bulldogs 32-12, Manly defeats New Zealand Warriors 38-32". www.abc.net.au.
8. "Freak injury rules out Warriors playmaker Chanel Harris-Tavita for a month". www.sportingnews.com.
9. George Clarke (23 May 2022). "'Time for a change of scenery': Chanel Harris-Tavita makes shock decision to walk away from NRL at 23". Stuff. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
10. "NRL: Warriors star Chanel Harris-Tavita reveals plan to take break from rugby league next season". New Zealand Herald. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
11. Full list of every squad at the Rugby League World Cup 2021
12. "Australia 30-10 Samoa: Rugby League World Cup final – as it happened". www.theguardian.com.
13. "Chanel Harris-Tavita to return to Warriors in 2024, ending his NRL sabbatical". Stuff. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
14. "The Mole's end-of-season review: The 'harsh' Shaun Johnson truth that plagued highly-fancied Warriors". www.nine.com.au.

External links

• New Zealand Warriors profile
• Samoa profile