But Harris caught the eye of former Kiwi David Lomax, and was good enough to make the Central Falcons (a franchise in the now defunct Bartercard Cup) youth side.
At the end of 2008, Harris received a call from Lomax. The Melbourne Storm were holding a scholarship training camp in Wellington, so would he like to come down and try out?
Harris bussed down to the capital and crashed at the Lomax pad. He had few expectations.
"There were about 120 kids and a whole lot of talented guys from all over the Wellington region. I didn't know what to expect."
There were two Storm spots up for grabs, with a training session on the Saturday then games the next day. On the Sunday afternoon, Craig Bellamy wandered over to two players and tapped them on the shoulder.
One was Harris, the other TJ Perenara.
"I was lucky," said Harris. "Lucky to be chosen and lucky to find out about the camp from David. Otherwise things could have panned out a whole lot different."
But while Harris stood out - as a teenager he was already over 1.90m and 105kg - he's the type who tends to make his own luck.
Perenara eventually decided to stick with rugby and played at the recent World Cup - ("that was a pretty good decision" laughs Harris) - while Harris completed another year of school then went to Melbourne as a 17-year-old in 2010.
By the end of the 2013 season, he was named the Storm's rookie of the year (25 matches), had made his Kiwis debut, scored a try in the World Club Challenge and been picked for the World Cup squad.
Then came Sonny Bill Williams' infamous u-turn, and the phone call from Stephen Kearney to tell Harris he was no longer in the World Cup squad. It was a massive story at the time, but Harris took a philosophical approach.
"I moved on pretty quickly," he said. "I was disappointed for a few days but it was out of my control. I didn't have to think too much about it."
It's likely Harris will leave a greater legacy than Williams in the black-and-white V. He's already contributed to three test wins over Australia (Williams never beat the Kangaroos) and could have another decade at the top.
Harris has played 80 minutes in the Kiwis' last three tests and has plenty of skill to go with his physical brawn. He has also played a test match against Australia at five-eighth (not many other back rowers can say that) and his improbable catch-and-pass to set up Shaun Kenny-Dowall's try at London's Olympic Stadium was one of the most important plays of the tour.
Harris remains the quiet achiever of this Kiwis team. He's fairly reserved with media and even reticent in team situations, with one team-mate joking that he loved having as Harris as a room-mate because it "was like he wasn't there".
But he's also becoming one of the most important Kiwis players, one selectors mark down first and then think about the rest. Though just don't tell Harris that.
"I'm certainly not in the mindset that I have a permanent spot," he said. "As soon as you start thinking that, things change on you and you might not get in."
- By Michael Burgess in Liverpool
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