Tohu Harris is from Waipatu, Hastings and grew up playing rugby and league in Hastings, before the Melbourne Storm lured him to Australia. Tohu had been playing rugby union when he was signed by Melbourne after appearing in a trial the Storm ran in Wellington.
He went on to play for the Storm in the NYC from 2010-2012 before making his NRL debut in the opening round of the 2013 season. Earlier he had helped the Storm to win the World Club Challenge encounter with Leeds. Harris also made his Kiwi debut in the Anzac Test in 2013 after initially being selected as 18th man.
A rangy back rower, he is also able to play at standoff (a position he has filled at Test level). Quickly established as a first-choice player for the Storm under Craig Bellamy's tutelage, Tohu went on to play in the 2016 grand final loss to Cronulla before tasting premiership success in the 2017 decider against North Queensland.
'T' was a Kiwi regular between 2013 and 2016, featuring in New Zealand's 2014 Four Nations triumph and its 26-12 Anzac Test win in 2015 to complete a run of three straight victories over the Kangaroos. However, he hasn't appeared for the Kiwis since his 16th Test in 2016.
Off contract at the end of the 2017 season, he was signed by the Vodafone Warriors before the campaign started. Injuries restricted his output in 2017, leaving him with 117 appearances for the Storm plus his premiership ring. Harris was hugely influential in his debut season in Auckland, playing 17 times and helping the Vodafone Warriors reach the NRL finals for the first time since 2011.
Injury limited him to just 13 appearances in 2019 but he was back with a vengeance in 2020 when he appeared in every one of the club's 20 games, the only player to do so. Operating as a middle forward, 'T' had an exceptional year being crowned the winner of the Simon Mannering Medal as the club's player of the year. He thrived on the added workload, topping 3400 metres at an average of 173 a game and making 845 tackles a game at an average of 39 a game.
In 2023, Tohu has now played over 200 games of league and is Captain for the Warriors, who this season are in the top 8 with a chance of playing NRL Finals.
Mana Ake