James Fisher-Harris (born 5 January 1996) is a New Zealand professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a and forward for the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

, and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and the New Zealand Māori at international level. He is a dual NRL premiership winning player of 2021 and 2022.

Background

Fisher-Harris was born in

Kohukohu, New Zealand Kohukohu is a village on the Hokianga Harbour in the Northland Region of New Zealand. It was one of the first European settlements in New Zealand. Kohukohu is situated on the northern shore of the harbour where it splits into two rivers, the ...

. He is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

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

Playing career

Early career

Fisher-Harris joined Penrith in 2013 as a member of their

S. G. Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne (Victoria Thunderbolts) also participate. Prior to the C ...

team. In 2014 and 2015, Fisher-Harris played for the Penrith Panthers'

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

team. On 2 May 2015, he played for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Super ...

, against the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...

, starting at prop in the 22-20 loss at

Robina Stadium Robina Stadium, also known by its sponsored name Cbus Super Stadium, is a rectangular football stadium in the Gold Coast suburb of Robina, Queensland. The main usage is as the home ground to the National Rugby League's Gold Coast Titans; th ...

. On 15 May 2015, Fisher-Harris re-signed with the Penrith club on a three-year contract. On 4 October 2015, Fisher-Harris played in the 2015

Holden Cup The NRL Under-20s (known commercially as the Holden Cup due to sponsorship from Holden) was the top league of professional rugby league for players aged 20 years or younger in Australasia. Contested by sixteen teams, the Under-20s competition co ...

Grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

against the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

, starting at second-row in the 34-18 victory.

2016

In Round 1 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, Fisher-Harris made his

debut for the Penrith club against the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

, playing off the interchange bench in Penrith's 30-22 loss at

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports v ...

. In Round 8 against the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

, Fisher-Harris scored his first and second NRL career tries in the 20-18 loss at

Shark Park Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a Chondrichthyes#Skeleton, cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified with ...

. On 2 June 2016, Fisher-Harris extended his contract with the Penrith club from the end of 2018 to the end of 2019. 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

. On 22 September 2016, Fisher-Harris was rewarded for his impressive debut season with selection in the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

24-man squad for the

2016 Four Nations The 2016 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (known as the 2016 Ladbrokes Four Nations, for sponsorship purposes) was the fifth staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament and was played in England in October and November. The series was c ...

On 11 November 2016, Fisher-Harris made his international debut for New Zealand against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, playing off the interchange bench in the shock 18-18 all draw at

Derwent Park Derwent Park is a Speedway and Rugby League Stadium in Workington, England situated beside the Cumbrian River Derwent. It is used mostly for rugby league matches and is the home stadium of Workington Town who play in League 1 the 3rd tier o ...

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. 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 The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

. Fisher-Harris finished the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

with him playing in 15 matches, missing a chunk of matches due to eye, shoulder and hamstring injuries.

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.

2019

Fisher-Harris made a total of 24 appearances for Penrith in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

and scored two tries as the club finished 10th on the table and missed out on the finals for the first time since 2015.

2020

Fisher-Harris played 22 games for Penrith as the club won the Minor Premiership. Fisher-Harris played in the

2020 NRL Grand Final The 2020 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2020 National Rugby League season held at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on October 25. The match was contested between minor premiers Penrith Panthers and second-placed Melbo ...

which Penrith lost 26-20 against Melbourne.

2021

On 27 September, Fisher-Harris was named Dally M Prop of the year alongside Brisbane's

Payne Haas Payne Haas (born 2 December 1999) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia at international level. He has played for the New South Wales in ...

. Fisher-Harris played a total of 24 games for Penrith in the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

including the club's

2021 NRL Grand Final The 2021 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2021 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Sunday 3 October at Suncorp Stadiu ...

victory over South Sydney.

2022

In round 21 of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

, Fisher-Harris was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous high tackle in Penrith's victory over

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. Fisher-Harris played 23 games for Penrith throughout the year including the 2022 NRL Grand Final victory over

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

. 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 Jarome Luai (born 16 January 1997) is a international rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL (National Rugby League). He won both the 2021 and the 2022 NRL Grand Finals with the Penrith club. He has repr ...

declaring before and after the grand final that Penrith were Parramatta's "Daddy". In October he was named in the New Zealand squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £2 ...

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

2023

On 18 February, Fisher-Harris played in Penrith's 13-12 upset loss to

St Helens RFC St Helens R.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside who compete in the Super League, the top tier for rugby league in Great Britain. They are the current Champions, having won the last 4 consecutive titles, and becom ...

in the 2023 World Club Challenge.

References

External links

Penrith Panthers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher-Harris, James 1996 births Living people New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team captains New Zealand Māori rugby league team players Penrith Panthers players Penrith Panthers captains Junior Kiwis players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Northland Region Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows