Chanel Harris-Tavita

The 24-year-old took the decision to take time away from the game after helping his beloved Samoa reach the World Cup final last year.

After doing some travelling and spending a couple of months in his ancestral homeland of Samoa, Harris-Tavita wanted to return to the game he loves.

The Auckland-born back finished his fourth season with New Zealand Warriors in 2022, having made 54 appearances in the NRL to date.

Harris-Tavita has won seven caps for Samoa since making his international debut in 2019. He has also represented the Māori All Stars.

This week’s Toa Samoa homecoming parades in Apia offered the opportunity for 23-year-old Harris-Tavita ​to visit Samoa for the first time after making deciding to quit following a failed NRL campaign with the Warriors.

Harris-Tavita says he is deliberately avoiding thinking about what 2023 will bring by only thinking two weeks ahead at a time.

“I think I’ve just been planning a couple weeks at a time and then as soon as it gets to the back end of the two weeks, I’m thinking about those next two weeks,” says Harris-Tevita.

Warriors interim coach Stacey Jones said on Wednesday that it has been confirmed as a medial collateral ligament injury in Harris-Tavita’s knee which will sideline him for around a month.

Given that there are only five games left in the season, it is possible that the 23-year-old has played his last game for the club.

“He has done his MCL, so that’s a three to four-week injury,” Jones said.

“We’re hoping that Chanel is going to get back out on the field before the end of the year.