'We can go a step further: Why Chanel is determined to win Samoa jersey

You could say Chanel Harris-Tavita is tiring of Samoa being the bridesmaid in major international rugby league competitions.

He played hooker in the 2022 World Cup final loss to Australia and he was the No.14 utility for the 2025 Pacific Championships final going down 36-14 to New Zealand.

The 27 year-old Warriors five-eighth has a gut feeling that Samoa will again be present in finals action in this year’s World Cup and his goal is to be part of it.

“I’d love to have another crack and I don’t care where I play,” Harris-Tavita told NRL.com.

“I’m grateful to just have the opportunity to wear the jersey again. It’s something I really want to do this year.

I think about the 2022 World Cup a lot and what we did back then – the memories come flooding back.

“With the young talent coming through hopefully we can go a step further this time.”

Harris-Tavita came up against one of those emerging stars in the Warriors' recent 20-18 loss to Penrith, facing his opposite No.6 in Blaize Talagi.

Talagi played alongside Jarome Luai last November taking over the five-eighth role from Anthony Milford, who partnered Luai in 2022, and the 21 year-old could be in a showdown with Harris-Tavita for a spot in the halves.

The excitement will build around Samoa once more and Harris-Tavita can feel it already.

“It’s hard to put into words … Samoa is such a small country but so passionate,” he said.

“We have lots of athletes in different sports that young kids look up to.

“For Samoans to play and succeed at the top level – and coming from such a small population – it gives the young kids hope.

“That’s the best part about it - to see and feel that support behind us from every single person, not just those living in Samoa but those living in Australia and New Zealand. It unites all of us.”

Samoa’s first game is against France at CommBank Stadium on Friday October 16. The Toa then travel to Papua New Guinea to meet the Orchids on October 24 before a showdown with Pacific rivals Tonga at Commbank Stadium on November 1 that could decide a semi-final berth.

In the interim Harris-Tavita is putting his considerable talents into the Warriors, albeit with his third partner in the halves in the past 12 months – Te Maire Martin after losing Luke Metcalf then Tanah Boyd, both to ACL knee injuries.

Harris-Tavita and Martin will play their second game together in 2026 against the Sharks on Saturday night, but the early signs are good.

“We’ve only had a handful of games but it’s come together sort of straight away,” Harris-Tavita said.

“We just play to each other’s strengths. Te Maire has got a strong running and passing game so I try to take pressure off him by taking most of the kicks and defending well.

“It’s about trying to find the best kick – he’s a right-foot and I’m a left foot so that helps.

The pair kicked 22 times in their last match before a bye against the Panthers for a combined 695 metres. They also had three try assists between them for the four tries the Warriors produced.

Harris-Tavita has a theory about why they have gelled so well.

“We just hate losing so when we’re at training we try to do everything we can to put our team in a good position. We’re exactly like that in games too.

“When the game is on the line the middles look to the spine so we want to deliver in those big games because we’re going to have to.”

Many expect Penrith and the Warriors to meet again in the NRL finals, with Harris-Tavita saying that close games like Round 13 last weekend offered a blueprint to fine-tune.

“It’s having that balance between knocking the front door down and knowing when to move the ball on attack,” he said.

“As a spine we’ll sit down and watch that (Panthers) game again to see where we can improve. We’ll only be better for it.”