James Fisher-Harris

James Fisher-Harris (born 5 January 1996) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop, lock and second-row forward for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL, and New Zealand and the New Zealand Māori at international level. He has won three NRL premiership titles with the Panthers, in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

James Fisher Harris
Personal information
Full nameJames Fisher-Harris
Born (1996-01-05) 5 January 1996
Kohukohu, New Zealand
Height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight104 kg (229 lb; 16 st 5 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp, Lock, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016– Penrith Panthers 180 12 0 0 48
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016– New Zealand 11 1 0 0 4
2019–21 Māori All Stars 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 1 October 2023

Background

Fisher-Harris was born in Kohukohu, New Zealand. He is of Māori descent.[2]

Fisher-Harris played his junior rugby league for the Whangarei Marist Brothers, before being signed by the Penrith Panthers.

Playing career

Early career

Fisher-Harris joined Penrith in 2013 as a member of their S. G. Ball Cup team.[3] In 2014 and 2015, Fisher-Harris played for the Penrith Panthers' NYC team.[4]

Fisher-Harris (front-left) playing for the Panthers in 2015

On 2 May 2015, he played for the Junior Kiwis, against the Junior Kangaroos, starting at prop in the 22-20 loss at Robina Stadium.[5][6] On 15 May 2015, Fisher-Harris re-signed with the Penrith club on a three-year contract.[7] On 4 October 2015, Fisher-Harris played in the 2015 Holden Cup Grand final against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, starting at second-row in the 34-18 victory.[8][9]

2016

In Round 1 of the 2016 NRL season, Fisher-Harris made his NRL debut for the Penrith club against the Canberra Raiders, playing off the interchange bench in Penrith's 30-22 loss at Canberra Stadium.[10][11][12] In Round 8 against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Fisher-Harris scored his first and second NRL career tries in the 20-18 loss at Shark Park.[13] On 2 June 2016, Fisher-Harris extended his contract with the Penrith club from the end of 2018 to the end of 2019.[14] Fisher-Harris finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 23 matches and scoring 5 tries for the Penrith club in the 2016 NRL season.

On 22 September 2016, Fisher-Harris was rewarded for his impressive debut season with selection in the New Zealand national rugby league team 24-man squad for the 2016 Four Nations.[15]

Fisher-Harris warming up for the Kiwis in 2016

On 11 November 2016, Fisher-Harris made his international debut for New Zealand against Scotland, playing off the interchange bench in the shock 18-18 all draw at Derwent Park in Workington, England.[16] This was the only match that Fisher-Harris played in the tournament.

2017

On 21 January 2017, Fisher-Harris was named the junior player of the year by the New Zealand Rugby League.[17]

Fisher-Harris finished the 2017 NRL season with him playing in 15 matches, missing a chunk of matches due to eye, shoulder and hamstring injuries.[18]

2018

Fisher-Harris made 25 appearances for Penrith in 2018 as the club finished 5th on the table and qualified for the finals. Fisher-Harris played in both finals matches as Penrith were eliminated in week two by Cronulla-Sutherland 21-20.[19]

2019

Fisher-Harris made a total of 24 appearances for Penrith in the 2019 NRL season and scored two tries as the club finished 10th on the table and missed out on the finals for the first time since 2015.[20]

2020

Fisher-Harris played 22 games for Penrith as the club won the Minor Premiership. Fisher-Harris played in the 2020 NRL Grand Final which Penrith lost 26-20 against Melbourne.[21]

2021

On 27 September, Fisher-Harris was named Dally M Prop of the year alongside Brisbane's Payne Haas.[22] Fisher-Harris played a total of 24 games for Penrith in the 2021 NRL season including the club's 2021 NRL Grand Final victory over South Sydney.[23]

2022

In round 21 of the 2022 NRL season, Fisher-Harris was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous high tackle in Penrith's victory over Canberra.[24]

Fisher-Harris played 23 games for Penrith throughout the year including the 2022 NRL Grand Final victory over Parramatta. The following day at the post grand final celebrations, Fisher-Harris said “I just want to say Parra are our sons, Right here right now that's just a fact". Fisher-Harris said this in relation to teammate Jarome Luai declaring before and after the grand final that Penrith were Parramatta's "Daddy".[25]

In October he was named in the New Zealand squad for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.[26]

In November he was named in the 2021 RLWC Team of the Tournament.[27]

2023

On 18 February, Fisher-Harris played in Penrith's 13-12 upset loss to St Helens RFC in the 2023 World Club Challenge.[28] Fisher-Harris played 23 matches for Penrith in the 2023 NRL season including the clubs 26-24 victory over Brisbane in the 2023 NRL Grand Final as Penrith won their third straight premiership.[29]

Statistics
Year Team Games Tries Pts
2016 Penrith 23 5 20
2017 15
2018 25
2019 24 2 8
2020 23
2021 24 2 8
2022 23 3 12
2023 23
Totals 180 12 48

References
  1. "James Fisher-Harris - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 5 January 1996. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  2. 12:22pm 05/28/2015 (28 May 2015). "James Fisher-Harris #PenrithPanthers #Maori #Ngapuhi #TeRarawa #kokesmoke - nesianpower101". Photostags.com. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. Carrasco, Aaron (24 June 2015). "Young Gun: James Fisher-Harris". penrithpanthers.com.au. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  4. "F". Nyc Database. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  5. "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  6. "Junior Kangaroos edge Junior Kiwis by two in thriller on Gold Coast". 2 May 2015.
  7. PenrithPanthers.com.au (15 May 2015). "Panthers extend Latimore and Fisher-Harris". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  8. "Updated 2015 Grand Final team lists". 4 October 2015.
  9. Nageshwar, Pranesh (5 October 2015). "Panthers maul Manly in decider". Daily Telegraph.
  10. "Updated: Round 1 NRL team lists". NRL.com. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  11. NRL. "NRL Late Mail: Round 1 - Panthers". Penrithpanthers.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  12. "Panthers to unleash rookie forward James Fisher-Harris in season opener against Canberra". Daily Telegraph. Dailytelegraph.com.au. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  13. "Sharks edge Panthers in thriller". 24 April 2016.
  14. "Young guns extend their deals". Zero Tackle. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  15. "League: James Fisher-Harris added to Kiwis train-on squad, Warriors prop Ben Matulino withdraws from contention".
  16. "League: Worrying signs as Scotland expose Kiwis frailties".
  17. "Jesse Bromwich retains Kiwis Player of Year honours - Sport - NZ Herald News". Nzherald.co.nz. 21 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  18. "Panthers v Warriors: Five key points". 13 May 2017.
  19. "Penrith Panthers 2018 season review". www.nrl.com. 24 October 2018.
  20. "Blame game will not solve Panthers' problems". Western Weekender. 10 September 2019.
  21. Hytner, Mike (25 October 2020). "Melbourne Storm beat Penrith Panthers as it happened". The Guardian.
  22. McMurtry, Andrew (27 September 2021). "2021 NRL Dally M Awards Live: Tom Trbojevic crowned NRL's best". News.com.au.
  23. "One of finest NRL grand finals of all time provides cure to difficult season". www.theguardian.com. 3 October 2021.
  24. "Two ugly high shots send Panthers and Raiders' guns to the bin in chaotic scenes". www.foxsports.com.au.
  25. "'Parra are our sons': Panther's cheeky Eels sledge as stars run riot, Luai has another dig". www.foxsports.com.au.
  26. Full list of every squad at the Rugby League World Cup 2021
  27. Samoan domination as unlikely halfback earns No.7 jersey: WC Team of the Tournament
  28. "St Helens: World Club Challenge win 'seismic for British rugby league'". www.bbc.co.uk.
  29. "NRL grand final 2023: Penrith Panthers defeat Brisbane Broncos – as it happened". www.theguardian.com.
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