Remarkable Harris - a sporting giant

Mark Harris (1966) was enrolled at St Peters in 1961 at a ripe age of 14. Fast forward six years and this gentle giant had become a sporting superstar with a multitude of Rugby, Athletics and Cricket awards under his belt. Harris harnessed his sporting prowess during his College years and, ultimately, it was what took him all over the world.

CASSIE TWEMLOW

PUBLICATIONS OFFICER Harris was part of St Peters’ undefeated 1st XV Premiership team in 1963. In the Review that year, he was described as ‘…a really fine goal kicker and a good attacker’. The following year, St Peters were again the undefeated Premiers—a feat many of his teammates attributed to his presence in their ranks. Harris joined the Forestry Department in 1966, but returned to St Peters in time for the fourth Rugby match of the season. He was warmly welcomed back by the Rugby team, who’d been winless for the first three games. Together, Harris and the team dominated the rest of the season.

Rugby teammate, Tom Brandt (1966), reflects admiringly, “I finally got a game in the 1st XV in 1966 in the game against Villanova - the week Harris returned to St Peters,” he said. “I played at five-eighth while he was at inside centre. I was able to catch the ball and all I did was feed it to Harris and he did the rest.”

In a 1965 Courier Mail article, Harris was depicted as the ‘glamour’ athlete of the Schoolboys Track & Field Championships, winning two events and taking two seconds. His Javelin win was particularly noteworthy as Harris had never competed in the event prior. Javelin wasn’t an event in The Associated Schools competition (TAS), of which St Peters was a part, and yet he went on to win, showing what a talent he was.

Rugby and Track & Field teammate, Jimmy Schulz (1968), had this to say about Harris:

“I played many Rugby games with Harris and always knew that, no matter how badly the team played, somehow Harris would win the game for us. He was almost impossible to stop even with belly crunching tackles. He was an absolutely powerful superstar, a natural born athlete who excelled in any sport.

"A powerful bowler and hitter in Cricket [and an] outstanding Track & Field athlete (I ran in the 4x100 relay [with him] in the Queensland Schoolboys Track meet and trained alongside Harris in the Shot put). The amazing thing is, Harris hardly trained at all. Imagine how much greater he would have been had he practiced greater training discipline.

"Harris was a gentle soul with a good heart. I was able to talk with Harris on the phone at Sydney airport in 2010 on our travels to PNG, Australia and New Zealand. After over 40 years he was still the same, very interested in me and my welfare. In my view he will be the greatest athlete that [St Peters] will ever have. His natural talent and power only comes along once in several lifetimes.” Following his schoolboy career, Harris was a Brothers Junior. In 1968 he moved to Papua New Guinea to spend two seasons with the Koni Club until he was recruited by Sydney’s Eastern suburbs team, the Roosters. Earning ‘Rookie of the Year’ in his first season, Harris emerged as one of the code's most destructive attacking players—a hard-running centre known for his powerful kick.

The same year, Harris was selected for his first Rugby League World Cup campaign. He would go on to represent Australia at another three World Cup’s (1972, 1975 and 1977) however, remarkably, during his career he

only played one Test (against New Zealand in 1972). After spending four years playing League, Harris was scouted by the American NFL and accepted an offer to train with the Philadelphia Eagles.

“They started with 110 [athletes] and over the six-weeks they cut the numbers down and I stayed there until the last cut,” Harris was quoted as telling the Sydney Morning Herald in 2014.

The experience didn’t result in a run-on position and, in the end, he was recruited by Canadian League team, the Montreal Alouettes. Harris played seven games at the Alouettes before he returned home and back to the Roosters. As it turned out, the return was timed perfectly. In 1974, Harris scored the try that won the Roosters the Grand Final against the Canterbury Bulldogs, ending a 29-year Premiership drought. A year later, he was the season's leading try-scorer with 14 tries. Unfortunately, a leg injury ruled him out of the Grand Final thrashing of St George. The big centre played 195 games for the Roosters and ended his playing career in 1981 after two seasons with North Sydney.

Harris remained close to the sport that saw him through his adolescence and success, becoming a member of the NRL judiciary in 2000. Former Kangaroos and Roosters back, Harris, passed away on 15 January 2020 after a long battle with cancer. He was 72 years old.

Pictured: (left) 1965 Frist XV photo and blurb; (below) 1965 Courier Mail article; (bottom) Mark Harris in his 1966 Form Class photo (centre back row).