Kevin Leslie Iro (born 24 May 1968), 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 '"The Beast", is a former professional

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, 1990s and 2000s, and coached in the 2000s. He played at representative level 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 ...

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and

Rest of the World Within sports and games played at the international competitive level, the Rest of the World refers to a team of players from many countries of origin that compete against a single individual or a team from a single group, such as a club or coun ...

, and at club level for Mount Albert, Manly-Warringah, Hunter Mariners and the Auckland Warriors, and in England for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

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 ...

and St Helens, as a playing in

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

finals for all three English teams, and coached at representative level for

Background

Iro was born in

, New Zealand. He is of

Cook Islanders Cook Islanders are residents of the Cook Islands, which is composed of 15 islands and atolls in Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean. Cook Islands Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Cook Islands, although the Cook Islands is curre ...

descent. Iro is the younger brother of fellow

rugby league international Tony Iro. He is the father of Kayal Iro

Playing career

As a junior, he played for the Glen Innes Falcons, a feeder club to Ellerslie during the 1980s. Kevin Iro played at , and scored two tries and three

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s in

's 22–17 victory over

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

in the

1988 Lancashire Cup 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

Final during the 1988–89 season at Knowsley Road, St. Helens on Sunday 23 October 1988, Kevin Iro played at and scored a try in

's 12–6 victory over

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

in the 1988–89 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1988–89 season at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of England, English association football, football club Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers, who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup final replay, in 1946 it was the sc ...

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

on Saturday 7 January 1989, and played at in the 12–6 victory over

in the 1989–90 Regal Trophy Final during the 1989–90 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

on Saturday 13 January 1990. He was St. Helens' lone try-scorer in their 1999 Super League Grand Final victory over

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

. Having won the 1999 Championship, St. Helens contested in the 2000 World Club Challenge against

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

Premiers the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

, with Iro playing at in the loss. Iro played for St. Helens at in their 2000 Super League Grand Final victory over

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

. As Super League V champions, St. Helens played against 2000 NRL Premiers, the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

in the 2001 World Club Challenge. Iro played at centre in St. Helens' victory. In 2006 Iro coached the Cook Islands national rugby league team in a three match series against the New Zealand Māori side. In the third and deciding match Iro came out of retirement, scoring two tries in a 32–4 victory. He also represented the Cook Islands at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

playing

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

References

External links

Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com

Statistics at saints.org.uk

Profile at leedsrugby.dnsupdate.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iro, Kevin 1968 births Living people Commonwealth Games competitors for the Cook Islands Cook Island expatriate rugby league players Cook Island expatriate sportspeople in Australia Cook Island expatriate sportspeople in England Cook Island rugby league coaches Cook Island rugby league players Cook Islands international rugby sevens players Cook Islands national rugby league team captains Cook Islands national rugby league team coaches Cook Islands national rugby league team players Hunter Mariners players Junior Kiwis players Leeds Rhinos players Male rugby sevens players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Mount Albert Lions players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in Australia New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Cook Island descent New Zealand Warriors players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league wingers Rugby sevens players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games St Helens R.F.C. players Wigan Warriors players