Harris initially struggled with the technical aspects of the demanding position, but showed enough promise to make the Bay of Plenty and Chiefs' under-18 teams in his first season hooking the scrum.
"My first year of rep footy at hooker was testing," Harris told the Bay of Plenty Times last month.
"My body type hasn't changed because I'm still growing into the weights and the bulking up, but the core roles of scrummaging and throwing have really taken some work."
Harris played for Te Puke Sports as a junior and said one of his earliest rugby memories was playing for the club at Blake Park in Mt Maunganui. Years later, he followed his father, Quentin, into Te Puke's premiers while also playing the Bay of Plenty development squad.
His exploits for those teams were enough to earn him elevation to his first national under-20 camp last November and, determined to win a spot in the world championship team, he spent the summer treating training like a fulltime job.
"Some people don't like getting out of bed early to hit the gym and I was one of those but, when you boil it down, rugby is like a job and if you don't do your job properly or are always late you get fired."
That dedication eventually paid off, with coach Rob Penney selecting the 1.82m, 106kg Harrison for the Baby Blacks' world title tilt.
