Craig Ross Innes (born 10 September 1969), also known by the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

of ''"Postie"'', is a New Zealand former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. After a successful rugby union career which saw him represent his country he switched to rugby league, playing in both England and Australia, winning the 1996 ARL Premiership, before playing out the last years of his career in rugby union in New Zealand.

Background

Craig Innes was born in

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

on the West Coast of New Zealand's North Island on 10 September 1969.

Rugby union

Innes played

in New Zealand and made his international début at age 20 on the wing in a Test against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

during the All Blacks' 1989 tour of Wales and Ireland. He scored two tries on début. Innes went on to play in 17 tests for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

, including the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup () was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...

Rugby league

Innes turned professional in 1992, leaving New Zealand to join English

club

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. He helped Leeds reach the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and 1995 Challenge Cup finals, playing against former All Black teammate

Va'aiga Tuigamala Va'aiga Lealuga Tuigamala Pulelua Fesola'i (4 September 1969 – 24 February 2022), often known as Inga Tuigamala, was a professional rugby union and rugby league player. Born in Samoa, he represented New Zealand in rugby union, winning 19 cap ...

in both matches. Innes' move to Australia to play for new

ARL ARL may refer to: Military * A US Navy hull classification symbol: Landing craft repair ship (ARL) * Admiralty Research Laboratory, UK * United States Army Research Laboratory * ARL 44, a WWII French tank Organizations * Aero Research Limited, ...

outfit, the

Western Reds The Western Reds were a rugby league football club based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1992 as the Western Reds, they entered into the Australian Rugby League competition in 1995 before defecting to the rival Super League (Australia), ...

in the 1995 season brought threats of legal action from Leeds. He returned to England to make the last of his 135 appearances for Leeds before leaving the club in 1996, shortly before the start of the inaugural Super League season. Australian club

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

secured his services for the 1996 ARL Premiership season, and he played alongside fellow former All Black,

Matthew Ridge Matthew John Ridge (born 27 August 1968) is a New Zealand television presenter, and a former rugby union and rugby league footballer. A fullback in both codes, Ridge played rugby union for Auckland and became an All Black, but never won an ...

in the Sea Eagles'

Grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

victory that year, scoring the first try of the match. At the height of the

Super League war The Super League war was a commercial competition between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the Australian Super League to establish pre-eminence in professional rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s. Sup ...

in 1997 Innes was unable to play representative rugby league for

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

due to the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league, rugby league football in New Zealand.#SPARC-2009, SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a 1910 Great Britain Lions tour o ...

's alignment with

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, and his club Manly's alignment with the

Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission Limited (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League Limited known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australi ...

. He did however appear in one match for a 'Rest of the World' team assembled to play against the ARL's Australian side. With the ARL isolated from the other international bodies during the

, they instigated a game against a Rest of the World side to give its players a chance to represent internationally. The world side included high-profile British Test players

Gary Connolly Gary John Connolly (born 22 June 1971) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s as a and for St Helens, Canterbury Bulldogs, Wigan Warriors, Leeds Rhinos and for the Great Britain national si ...

and Jason Robinson who had signed contracts promising to eventually join an ARL club. This was the only time the ARL granted Test status to a Rest of the World encounter. Innes thus became a dual-code rugby international in that match. Innes' club, the Sea Eagles were minor premiers in the

1997 ARL season The 1997 Australian Rugby League season was the 90th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the third season run by the Australian Rugby League. While several clubs had left the League to compete in the 1997 Super League ...

, and reached the grand final, in which he scored a try, but it was not enough to defeat Newcastle. At the end of the 1997 season, Innes returned to New Zealand to play out the rest of his football career in the

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

rugby union competition for the

Auckland Blues The Blues (; known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 1999) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established b ...

. Since retirement from playing, he has been involved in professional player management.

Personal life

Craig has two children and was married to former model, television host and judge on

New Zealand's Next Top Model ''New Zealand's Next Top Model'' (''NZNTM'') is a New Zealand reality television series in which a number of young women compete for the title of ''New Zealand's Next Top Model'' and the chance to start their career in the modeling industry. The ...

, Sara Tetro.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Craig Innes at nrlstats.comCraig Innes at sporting-heroes.net
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at leedsrugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Innes, Craig 1969 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Bedford Blues players Dual-code rugby internationals Leeds Rhinos players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Ponsonby RFC players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from New Plymouth Rugby union players from New Plymouth Wainuiomata Lions players Western Reds players 1991 Rugby World Cup players Rugby union centres Blues (Super Rugby) players