Chanel Harris-Tavita reflects on week of learning

By Christopher Reive

Chanel Harris-Tavita has learned a valuable lesson over the past couple of weeks.

The Warriors’ five-eighths bore the brunt of the criticism following their 20-18 loss to the Canberra Raiders a fortnight ago after missing all three of his conversion attempts, including one to tie the game late in the piece.

It was not a role the 25-year-old expected to find himself in that night.

Going into the game with centre Adam Pompey as the primary goalkicker and fullback Taine Tuaupiki as the likely backup, Harris-Tavita put his focus into other areas of his game in preparation for the clash.

But when Pompey and Tuaupiki went off due to injury, Harris-Tavita was tasked with adding the extras – something he hadn’t worked on in the week leading into the game.

“I didn’t do any reps last week,” Harris-Tavita said after the Warriors’ 28-16 win over Wests Tigers on Friday night. “That was the lesson for me. I needed to prep better for the game so that was something I focused on this week.”

It was a different story for the young half in the win over the Tigers. While he missed his first two attempts, both from the sideline, he struck them well before splitting the uprights with his third shot of the night.

The relief was evident on his face, grinning as he jogged back into the line as the 23,976-strong crowd roared in appreciation.

“I needed that. If I missed that I was giving the tee away,” Harris-Tavita said.

“Once that went over, I was pretty confident to take the next couple.”

“Since that kick [against the Raiders], I was a bit uptight and nervous heading into the game. I did a lot of reps this week and felt more confident, especially after that one went over.”

Harris-Tavita finished the game having converted four of his six shots at goal, adding the cherry on top of a solid performance in an important win for the team.

Reflecting on the week that was, he said while he learned the lesson to always be prepared, the noise from outside his circle didn’t play a part in that.

“I didn’t hear it too much. I wasn’t online much. I’ve got a good circle of mates and teammates around me, good coaching staff, good family, so they helped me focus on what was important this week and helped me narrow my focus.”

In the context of their season, the win over the Tigers was two points the Warriors had to pick up. While it wasn’t their best performance of the year, there was plenty to like in the way they went about their business, from the way they exploited the space given to them, their first-half defence, and the way they locked back in after a disappointing 20 minutes after halftime.

Coach Andrew Webster said the win, their first since round 17, was a bit of a rusty performance, but it gave the side a platform to build on heading into their final five games of the season – four of which are against top-eight opposition and three are away fixtures.

“There were big signs of defending our try line for periods, which I think has improved,” Webster said.

“I said to the boys, I think we’ve played better and lost recently, but I’d rather be sitting in that dressing room learning off the back of a win, and it gives us something to build on to get some momentum.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission