Tohu Harris' Undercover Greatness
Tohu do what Tohu does.
There are a few basic markers of quality in rugby league and more specifically, the NRL. You don't need an expert pundit on the telly to give you a breakdown on which players are ahead of the pack, all you've gotta do is connect the dots yourself; Tohu Harris is 24 years-old and was scouted by the Melbourne Storm after attending a camp in Wellington, he earned a Kiwis call up in the same year as he made his NRL debut and has already passed 100 NRL games.
In that time, Craig Bellamy - second only to Wayne Bennett - has called on Harris to play nearly every position on the footy field. At 24yrs, Harris has already played 12 Tests for the Kiwis and has done so in the halves, centre, as an edge forward and up the guts. Harris isn't just your run-of-the-mill NRL utility player who is extremely valuable across a season because he can cover a variety of positions, nah, Harris does that at the international level as well.
Throughout his relatively short career thus far, I've found myself constantly in awe of what Harris can do on a footy field. Sure, it's far from ideal that Harris has played in the halves for the Kiwis and we'd much rather have a specialist there to run the show, yet Stephen Kearney would only put Harris in the halves because he knew he could do a job. That takes the skill-set required to do a job in the halves at the international level, as well as a typically Melbourne Storm mindset of merely doing your job for the team; two aspects of Harris that appear to sum him up as a bloke.
Admiring how Harris could mix it with beastly NRL forwards and then slide out to centre and cover a whippy NRL centre, I always enjoyed what Harris would throw my way next or what minor detail I'd pick up on next. This season, Harris was graced with an opportunity to settle down on the left edge and was only shifted sporadically to cover an injury, helping the Storm work their way into a Grand Final.
While Cooper Cronk and Kevin Proctor enjoy a wonderful combination on the right, Harris had Blake Green to work with on the left. Green rarely put a foot wrong during his time with the Storm (he's off to Manly) and while he didn't have the repertoire of Cronk, Green was able to roll through the Storm's play-book with Harris often as the focal point and with a battler of a centre in Ryan Morgan or Cheyse Blair on the outside. Shout out to those battlerish centres because their arrival allowed Harris to stay as an edge forward after playing a bit of centre, especially with Cameron Munster moving to fullback in Billy Slater's absence.
At home on Melbourne's left edge, Harris enjoyed a season that I can only describe as 'bloody good'. This culminated in a period of games late in the season which saw Harris record over 12 carries, 100m and at least 30 tackles in 11 games straight, including the GF where Harris had 16/128m and 48 tackles. This 11-game stretch saw the Storm lose just three games and Harris played 80 minutes (84mins vs Rabbitohs, round 22) in all but three of those games.
Including the early part of the season when Harris was still lingering around at centre, Harris ran for less than 100m in just four games this season and ran over 150m in seven games. All this came as the Storm enjoyed considerable success, winning 19 games and losing just five; my #KiwiNRL bias has me leaning towards giving Harris a high-five for the role he played in the Storm's success this year.
The truth is that Harris did play a key role in the Storm's return to the top of the NRL ladder and subsequently their return to a GF...
Harris was one of four Storm players to play 27 games this season (Jesse and Kenny Bromwich also played 27 games #KiwiNRL #KiwiNRL #KiwiNRL).
Harris finished 5th in tries for the Storm (8).
Harris played the most minutes of any Storm player this season (2,103mins).
Harris finished 3rd in runs for the Storm (410 - Jesse Bromwich had 430 #KiwiNRL #KiwiNRL #KiwiNRL).
Harris was 4th in metres (3,602m - Jesse Bromwich had 3,993m).
Harris was 4th in line breaks (10).
Harris was 3rd in offloads (23 - Jesse Bromwich had 56 #KiwiNRL #KiwiNRL #KiwiNRL).
Harris was 4th in tackles (825 - Proctor was 3rd, Jesse Bromwich 5th, Kenny Bromwich 6th #KiwiNRL #KiwiNRL #KiwiNRL).
Harris was 3rd in tackle busts (62).
Harris was 5th in line break assists (5 - 5th equal with Jesse Bromwich).
Harris also kicked 2 goals!
In all major stat categories (tries, games, minutes, runs, line breaks, offloads, metres, tackles, tackle busts and line break assists) Harris finished in the top-five for the Storm. Mix the fact that the Storm played in a GF and only lost five games this season with Harris being in the top-five for all the major stats and I'm hailing Harris as being crucial to the Storm's success.
Harris was ranked 19th in tackles for all NRL players and finished 2nd behind Proctor for edge forwards.
Harris was ranked 13th in run metres for all NRL players, 1st for edge forwards.
Harris finished 7th in minutes and was one of seven players to play 27 games this season across the entire NRL.
Canberra's Elliott Whitehead was the only forward to play more minutes than Harrs and as he's also an edge forward, we can compare Harris to Whitehead nicely.
Whitehead: 6 tries, 283 runs, 2,367m, 6 line breaks, 11 offloads, 1,062 tackles, 60 missed tackles, 2 try assists, 38 tackle busts.
Harris: 8 tries, 410 runs, 3,602m, 10 line breaks, 23 offloads, 825 tackles, 36 missed tackles, 2 try assists, 62 tackle busts.
That my friends, would help you build a strong case that Harris is the best edge forward in the NRL.
This gets even more mind-boggling when I remind myself and y'all, that Harris is just 24 years-old. In three years he's played 103 NRL games and 12 Tests, so what could Harris' career look like in a few years time? Just as there is scope for Jesse Bromwich to go down as one of the best rugby league props of all time, Harris has scope to not only put himself in kiwi rugby league royalty but also general rugby league royalty.
This could be measured by games played and how many games Harris wins at the Storm, or by how many seasons in which Harris dominates the Storm's stats and NRL stats for his position. If Harris continues on this path, he'll serve up some numbers that will make heads spin but perhaps the best mark of Harris' possible greatness is the standing he already has in Melbourne and how that could blossom.
Harris has quickly established himself as a future leader of the Storm and the likes of Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Bill Slater will pass the torch of the Storm's culture on to Harris. Smith, Cronk, Slater and coach Bellamy trust that Harris can do a great job in any position not only because they know that Harris can handle it physically/athletically but also because they know he has the character for that.
While stats and the 'eye test' point to Harris being a kiwi rugby league great, that Harris will likely help shape the Storm and the culture in Melbourne moving forward is as good a sign as any that great things await Hastings' finest.