Chanel Harris-Tavita makes decision on New Zealand Warriors future amid Super League links

New Zealand Warriors star Chanel Harris-Tavita is set to continue his spell in the NRL after penning a new deal with the Auckland-based side. 

His decision to remain with the Wahs comes amid links with a move to Super League, with his name having been circulated across the competition last week.

Had he made the move north, he would have followed Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who is headed for Wakefield Trinity come 2027.

Chanel Harris-Tavita pens new New Zealand Warriors deal amid Super League links

The 27-year-old has spent the bulk of his career at the Warriors, and made his senior NRL bow for them back in 2019. Since then, he has 102 appearances for the club.

His form for the Warriors also saw him called into the Samoa Test side, winning 10 caps at the time of writing after again making his debut in 2019.

Commenting on his extension, Warriors general manager recruitment, pathways and development, Andrew McFadden, said: “The way Chanel has developed his game is testament to the work he has put in.

“He plays such a big role for us and will continue to so for the rest of this season and next.”

Warriors head coach, Andrew Webster, added: “There’s so much to like about the way Chanel goes about his game.

“He’s so consistent and this season he has been in career-best form. Quite apart from his playing role he brings so much energy to the team through his defence and the way he competes.

“He has been awesome this year and we were very keen for him to stay here.”

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His decision to re-sign with the Warriors also comes amid interest from other NRL clubs, but the Warriors were also not keen to see him leave for pastures new, either.

“Chanel and I are in dialogue around (over a new deal), so communication’s been good, I’ll say that,” Webster previously said on Harris-Tavita’s future.

“I’m having conversations with him personally. We love him, don’t want him to leave, but we’ll just continue to see how it plays out.”

Warriors half-back situation

The decision to re-sign Harris-Tavita also comes amid the backdrop of current half-back Luke Metcalf agreeing a move to NRL rivals St George Illawarra Dragons, signing a three-year deal.

Metcalf has found himself outside of the starting group in recent weeks, with Harris-Tavita and Tanah Boyd preferred in the halves in recent weeks, but Webster has downplayed any talk of it being a ‘blow-out’ between the pair.

“To see it in the media early on, before we knew a lot about it or got to have discussions about it,” said the head coach. “And at the end of the day, the way Luke has handled it with me has been awesome. I’ve been really proud of him on that. But you always want to get ahead of it and be the first to know.

“It’s not an argument or a blow-up or anything like that. I’ve not seen him train poorly; it’s just unfortunate that form of other players has been exceptional and he’s had some injuries himself, and he wants to explore where he wants to go from here.”

Elsewhere, the Wahs also have Jett Cleary on their books, with the promising half-back playing for their NSW Cup side.