Penrith Panthers are the dominant force of pandemic-era NRL and a young chap from Hokianga has been a leading figure in Panthers success. James Fisher-Harris made his Kiwi-NRL debut in 2016 and he is only behind Isaah Yeo as the longest serving Panthers in this group, which paints a compelling picture of Fisher-Harris' Panthers mana.

Fisher-Harris played 23 games in his first season, followed by 15 games in 2017. Since then Fisher-Harris has registered five consecutive seasons with 20+ games and he has quietly racked up 156 games for Panthers. Despite minimal international rugby league being played in recent years, Fisher-Harris also has seven Tests and he was one of many Aotearoa Kiwis who have established themselves as elite NRL players during Aotearoa's Test absence.

One wrinkle from that Test victory was Fisher-Harris passing. As all Aotearoa Kiwis players put up excellent stats, Fisher-Harris had 10 passes to go with his running/tackling mahi and as this was double the amount of passes of other Kiwis forwards; it seemed like Fisher-Harris took on the role of distribution through the middle.

Fisher-Harris had two passes against Rabbitohs last weekend and this sets up intrigue as to how Fisher-Harris may impact the Grand Final against Eels. Panthers have Isaah Yeo as their leading passer among the forwards and he had 16 passes against Rabbitohs which reflects the balance of passing in the Panthers forward pack. Eels have now played two games against Panthers where Fisher-Harris doesn't pass, then a finals game where Fisher-Harris chimed in with passing. Eels know all about Yeo's distribution and how it sets up various attacking motions, which could allow Fisher-Harris to make a few key plays with his hands.

Fisher-Harris doesn't need to do that though and he can be highly influential with rugged mahi. Panthers have managed Fisher-Harris' output in recent seasons and this has resulted in Fisher-Harris dropping from 179m/game in 2020 to 153m/game last year and 146m/game this season. At the same time Fisher-Harris has gone from 90+ missed tackles in back to back seasons (2018-19) to below 50 missed tackles for three consecutive seasons.

Everything about Fisher-Harris' basic mahi is reflected in Panthers footy. Kohukohu's finest provides grunt with the footy and when Cleary is pinning the opponent deep in their own territory, Fisher-Harris is usually among the first tacklers boosting down field. Opposition forwards rarely dominate Panthers through the middle and Fisher-Harris is the grizzly bloke leading their grimey stuff.

Fisher-Harris may fall behind Aotearoa Kiwis matua Jesse Bromwich and Jared Waerea-Hargaeves, yet he is the epitome of Panthers mana. Fisher-Harris, Yeo and Cleary are the foundations of Panthers success, yet Fisher-Harris is not a local junior.. Snaring Fisher-Harris from Northland may be the best piece of recruitment from Panthers in the past decade and this will go down as one of the best Kiwi-NRL scouting/recruitment moves ever.

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