Newcastle Falcons latest signing, Cory Harris
The club’s latest signing, 29-year-old back rower Cory Harris from Bridgend, was made in response to the departure of Warren Britz in the summer and the impending retirement of Andrew Mower, leaving us without a senior specialist openside, Colin Charvis and Ed Williamson filling the position so far this season.Harris is a tough-tackling New Zealander, who arrived in Newcastle on October 18 via Wales, where he started at Pontypridd in 2000 after spending his early career with NPC side Canterbury. After winning the Principality Cup in his second season at Sardis Road, he moved across the Valleys to Bridgend in 2002 and helped them to the last professional Welsh Premiership title. Signed by the Celtic Warriors (one of five new Welsh regional sides, the Warriors being the amalgamation of Pontypridd and Bridgend!) in the summer of 2003 ahead of the first season-long Celtic League, Harris gained a high reputation amongst the club’s fans as they won Heineken Cup qualification. Unfortunately the club was disbanded in 2004 and Harris (like Colin Charvis a year earlier) was not picked up by any of the other four sides, and spent the early months of 2004-05 playing in the Welsh Premiership with Bridgend Ravens, waiting for residence to qualify him to play for the Welsh national side in November. Rob Andrew signed Harris for Newcastle in October, and he made an inspirational debut at Sale last Friday night, his reputation leads us to hope that he will be able to carry on where Mower and Britz left off in the last few seasons. |
'I wish Cory and his family all the best "Up North" and they can always be assured of a very warm welcome in Bridgend whenever they pay us a visit. Now I hope he goes on to establish himself with the Falcons and gets capped by Wales as well.'
– Ron Chalmers'Cory was one of the handful of players that not only pulled on the Warriors shirt and played with great distiction, but he also ran out and gave fantastic service for both Pontypridd and Bridgend. I know that he will succeed at Newcastle and his transfer to Newcastle in undoubtedly their gain and a loss to the game in Wales. '
– Kerry Jenkins 'Thanks for everything Cory, a great player with superb thighs.'
– Anon 'Who would you choose, if asked, as THE player of the past 3 seasons from a Bridgend viewpoint. I think that 90% of fans would choose Cory Harris. The true professional, a genuinely nice bloke, and a fantastic rugby player, be it for Ravens (in league winning season), Warriors (arguably player of the year) and also for Ravens this year.'
– Anon
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