Following Chanel Harris-Tavita’s contract extension to the end of 2029 this week, we’re revisiting the club stalwart’s early days in the Warriors jersey — at the tail end of the NYC Under-20s premiership.
TWL’s Will Evans interviewed a fresh-faced, bleach-blonde CHT for Big League magazine midway through 2017, when he was the teenaged linchpin of the Warriors’ Toyota Cup line-up. In a team containing the likes of Erin Clark, Isaiah Papali’i, KL IRo, Paul Turner, Joseph Vuna and Preston Riki, he went on to win the Sonny Fai Medal as their Player of the Year.
Harris-Tavita helped guide the Warriors’ NSW Cup side to the playoffs in 2018 while still only 19, then earned his NRL spurs in 2019 — setting him on a path to becoming the 32nd player to make 100 top-grade appearances for the club earlier this year.
Big League — June 22, 2017
By Will Evans
Chanel Harris-Tavita only had 18 candles to blow out on his birthday cake back in April, but the wiry playmaker already has 32 NYC appearances to his credit and has developed into the Warriors’ undisputed linchpin in his sophomore season.
The Mount Wellington junior made his Under-20s debut last year on his 17th birthday and quickly became a permanent fixture in the halves, collecting the team’s rookie of the year gong.
After trying his hand at soccer as a schoolkid, Harris-Tavita switched to rugby league and never looked back – and he is still pinching himself about getting to run out onto the hallowed Mt Smart Stadium turf every second week.
“It’s like a dream just playing for the Warriors,” the softly-spoken youngster told Big League.
“I’m having heaps of fun though.
“I always used to sit down and watch the Warriors at home with my family, looking up to all the big names like Shaun Johnson, Stacey Jones and all those players.”
Now Harris-Tavita brushes shoulders with his idols on the training paddock, gleaning as much knowledge as possible from the plethora of experienced halves on the Warriors’ playing and coaching staff.
“I was lucky enough to do a pre-season with them and I learnt lots off Shaun, ‘Foz’ (Kieran Foran), Mason (Lino) and Ata (Hingano),” Harris-Tavita beams.
“It was a real good experience seeing what it’s like at the top level.”
The once-dominant Warriors NYC side missed the finals for the first time in 2016 and is currently anchored to the bottom of the ladder, but Harris-Tavita says the team remains upbeat – particularly after chalking up their first win of the season against Brisbane in Round 12.
“It was the best feeling ever – it’s like a grand final.
“The boys are really happy, they put in all the work in the first 11 rounds and we finally got our first win.”
A classy ball-player with a superb running game and a solid defender despite a modest frame that is still filling out, Harris-Tavita provides stability in the Warriors’ spine with a low error rate that doesn’t often correlate with players boasting his attacking gifts.
But Harris-Tavita, who represented the Junior Kiwis in Canberra last month, pinpoints the mental side of the game as his greatest attribute.
“I just try not to give up, especially when it gets tough, help out my boys,” he says.
“When things don’t go our way, stick to our structures and game-plan, and stay composed.
“There’s still lots of work-ons that I try to get better at every week, different skills in attack and defence. I just want to keep improving.”
Warriors NYC coach Grant Pocklington praises Harris-Tavita’s maturity and level-headedness.
“Chanel’s really talented, and what we’re trying to teach him at the moment is his game-management and awareness, because he’s got everything else,” Pocklington says.
“He’s a very relaxed type of footballer. You can see he’s got a lot of time on the field, and that’s how he carries himself off the field – very calm and collected, knows what he wants.”
Harris-Tavita is cautiously optimistic about getting a taste of the Intrust Super Premiership in 2017.
“I hope so, but for now I’m focussing on getting some wins under my belt for the Under-20s and seeing what happens from there.”
Pocklington, though, says a call-up to the Warriors’ high-flying reserve grade side is very much on the cards before the season is out.
“Me and (Warriors ISP coach) Ricky (Henry) have talked about giving some of these boys a game or two up a grade, and Chanel will certainly be one of them.”
There’s every chance ‘CHT’ will join countrymen ‘RTS’, ‘JWH’ and ‘DWZ’ among rugby league’s recognisable acronyms, but the humble Harris-Tavita has not forgotten his greatest supporters as he starts the climb to stardom.
“It’s massive to be able to play in front of my family, they’re really proud.
“All of the stuff they do for me, it’s all paying off now so it’s great feeling.”
I loved those highlights, I'd forgotten just how much of a gun he was in NYC.