NZ Warriors captain Tohu Harris is resigned to nursing his troublesome knee injury through the remainder of his team's breakthrough NRL campaign.
The veteran lock currently has his side on course for their first playoffs appearance since 2018, sitting seventh on the competition ladder midway through the regular season.
Their seven wins from 13 games already surpasses their total from the entire 2022 season, but during their 30-8 win over the expansion Dolphins, Harris was again struggling with an MCL (medial collateral ligament) injury that first occurred against Canterbury Bulldogs in March.
He missed two games, before returning to his post, then missed another, after aggravating it again against Melbourne Storm, and has obviously not been at 100 percent since.
"It's been a few weeks since I had any incidents with it," said Harris, after the Dolphins encounter. "I was feeling really good, but got caught underneath a body and hurt it a bit.
"I was able to walk it off and get back into the game. I was pretty glad I didn't have to come off the field."
Despite the setback, Harris emerged as the Warriors' leading tackler with 40 across his 72 minutes and seems likely to carry the niggle through the rest of the season.
"It's just an injury I have to keep managing week to week," he said. "The longer time goes on, the stronger I can get it, the less incidents will happen.
"I've just got to keep grinding away at it and get it as strong as possible."
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