The New Zealand Warriors have re-signed star forward Tohu Harris on a new three-year deal.
The Warriors on Friday morning announced the extension in a statement, tying him to the club until the end of the 2024 season.
The 29-year old's new deal was confirmed to his teammates during the Warriors' final captain's run this morning ahead of Saturday's season-opening clash against the Gold Coast Titans.
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Harris was thrilled to commit his future to the club.
“I love what is happening here the moment,” he told the Warriors website.
“The staff and the players are gelling and it’s been a really enjoyable off season. Now I can’t wait for kick off tomorrow.
“We have some exciting kids coming through the system and I see a great future here in the coming years.
“The other leaders and I need to maintain the standards set so we can become a consistent top team in the NRL.”
New Warriors coach Nathan Brown was a keen observer of Harris over the years and is excited to have him locked in for the future.
“Having watched Tohu over the years I couldn’t wait to coach him,” Brown said.
“He is an elite player, one of the NRL’s top shelf forwards, with a work ethic and skill set second to none.
“Tohu has also been a great contributor helping the young players and providing invaluable experience to them in the early years of their careers.”
Harris has played 167 NRL games since making his first-grade debut for the Melbourne Storm in 2013 before moving to the Warriors ahead of 2018.
He won the Warriors' Simon Mannering Medal last year, appearing in all 20 matches and ranking fifth among all players for most post-contact metres (1339), seventh for most metres gained (3465) and most tackles (845) and 10th for most runs (352).
“Retaining Tohu is hugely important for the team and for the club as a whole,” said Warriors CEO Cameron George added.
“He’s our current player of the year and he’s a vital cog in our squad. This is a great boost for our club having an established squad leader committing to three more years at the Vodafone Warriors.”