Kiwi captain James Fisher-Harris will bring an extraordinary four consecutive premierships to the One New Zealand Warriors after helping the Penrith Panthers to a 14-6 win over Melbourne in Sunday’s NRL grand final.
The 28-year-old 2023 Golden Boot winner signed off an extraordinary 203-game career with the club in style as the Penrith forwards finished over the top of their Storm counterparts in a gruelling decider.
Apart from Panthers loose forward Isaah Yeo with 233 metres, Fisher-Harris led all other forwards with 158 hard-won metres from 18 runs in the middle of the park while bench forwards Lindsay Smith (133) and Scott Sorensen (123) also toped the 100-mark. Only two Storm forwards – former Warrior Eliesa Katoa (135) and Trent Loiero – made more than 100 metres.
In his 53 minutes on the field, Fisher-Harris also finished with 32 tackles, two missed tackles and no ineffective tackles while he made no errors and conceded no penalties.
He was granted an early release from his contract on compassionate grounds in April and days later signed a four-year deal with the One New Zealand Warriors from 2025.
Fisher-Harris, set to lead the Kiwis in the coming Pacific Championship, will be the most successful NRL player to join the Warriors after playing in five straight grand finals and winning four.
Former Warriors captain Ryan Hoffman appeared in four grand finals with the Storm, losing to Brisbane in 2006 before wins over Manly Waringah in 2007, Parramatta in 2009 and Canterbury Bankstown 2012 but the 2007 and 2009 premierships were subsequently stripped due to salary cap breaches.
Fisher-Harris has ended his nine seasons at Penrith career with an exceptional 72 per cent winning strike rate, averaging 125 metres and 31 tackles a game.
This season he played 23 games, averaging 128 metres and 27 tackles a game with just 26 missed tackles for a career-best efficiency rate of 96 per cent.
