James Harrison (rugby league)
James Harrison (born 15 June 1996) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second row or prop for Featherstone Rovers in the Betfred Championship.[1]
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| Full name | James Harrison | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 June 1996 Leeds, West Yorkshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.94 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 16 st 7 lb (105 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Second-row, Prop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Harrison came through the youth academy at Bradford Bulls before signing for the Batley Bulldogs in 2016. During his first season at Batley he had a short spell on loan at Oxford.[2]
Background
Harrison was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
He is the son of former England international and Super League coach Karl Harrison.
Playing career
As a junior, James began his career at Drighlington ARLFC, he then went on to join the Huddersfield Giants scholarship before a successful spell at the Bradford Bulls, where he was highly rated.
Batley Bulldogs
In November of 2015, at the age of 19 Harrison signed for championship side Batley Bulldogs. Batley’s head coach was the experienced John Kear who gave James his debut in March of 2016, coming off the bench away at Dewsbury Rams to claim victory in the Heavy Woollen Derby.
Harrison claimed his first try for Batley, again coming off the bench in his home debut in a 28-10 victory over a strong Featherstone Rovers side. Harrison went on make 10 appearances for Batley in his first senior season, mostly in the back row, with 8 of those appearances coming as a substitute, scoring a total of 2 tries.
Batley accomplished one of their best league positions in years, finishing 3rd in the championship table and went on to compete in the middle 8’s. Harrison featured against both Huddersfield Giants and Salford in the middle 8 format.
In October 2016 it was announced Matt Diskin was to take over at Batley Bulldogs from 2017 after John Kear announced he would be joining Wakefield Trinity as director of rugby in 2017.
Harrison spent two seasons under head coach Diskin and featured heavily in that period mostly as a back row forward. During the two seasons Harrison made 48 appearances and scored 15 tries. At the 2018 end of season players awards night, Harrison was awarded the coaches player of the year award.
Featherstone Rovers
In September 2018 it was announced that Harrison had a signed a one year deal at Featherstone Rovers. Following in his father’s footsteps who also played for the club, Harrison stated “I’m looking forward to the challenge of stepping up to a big club like Featherstone, who play in front of big crowds.”
Harrison's Featherstone debut came in a defeat away at Widnes Vikings in front of a crowd of 5682. Harrison had to wait to score his first points for the club, this came in defeat away at old club Bradford Bulls in the fifth round of the challenge cup. Featherstone losing by one point 27-26.
Featherstone went on to finish 5th in Championship table following the conclusion of 27 fixtures winning 17 games. Featherstone qualified for the playoffs to compete for a place in Super League. In the first playoff game, Harrison scored a try in the 34-18 victory over Leigh Centurions. Harrison scored tries in each of the following playoff victories away at York City Knights (30-4) and away at Toulouse Olympique (36-12) meaning qualification to the million pound game against Toronto Wolfpack in Canada. Harrison started in the final, Featherstone lost 24-6 to a strong Toronto side in a close game after leading at half time. The game was played in front of a record crowd of 9,974 and peaked at 246,000 viewers on live TV.
In total, Harrison made 28 appearances in 2019 scoring 7 tries.
References
- "Player Update". Batley Bulldogs. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- "Match Report". York City Knights. 19 June 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.