Tony Roy Iro (born 30 May 1967) is a 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 ...

coach and former player who last coached the

Cook Islands national rugby league team The Cook Islands national rugby league team have represented the Cook Islands in international rugby league football since 1986. Administered by the Cook Islands Rugby League Association (CIRLA), the team has competed at three Rugby League W ...

. He is a former

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 ...

international representative, playing on the wing or in the second row in 25 Tests.

Background

Tony Iro is also the older brother of former professional rugby league international footballer

Kevin Iro Kevin Leslie Iro (born 24 May 1968), also known by the nickname of '"The Beast", is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and coached in the 2000s. He played at representative level for New Zeal ...

. He is the uncle of Kayal Iro

Playing career

Iro first played as a professional in England played with the

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 ...

from 1987 to 1989. During the 1988–89 season Iro played on the wing in Wigan'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 at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For ...

, St. Helens on Sunday 23 October 1988. He made his début for the Kiwis in the 1988 World Cup final against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Playing on the wing, he scored a try on debut, but the Kiwis were defeated 25–12 in front of 47,363 at

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 ...

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

. During the 1988–89 season Iro played on the wing in the 12–6 victory over

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...

in the

1988–89 John Player Special Trophy The 1988–89 John Player Special Trophy was the eighteenth season for the competition (named as such due to sponsorship from John Player & Sons). Wigan won the final, beating Widnes by the score of 12-6. The match was played at Burnden Park, B ...

Final 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. Iro moved to Australia in 1990 and played for the

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 ...

. In 1990-91 he returned to England for a short stint with

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

. He played at the

1995 Rugby League World Cup The 1995 Rugby League World Cup (also known as Halifax Centenary World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh World Cup for mens national rugby league teams. It was held between 7–28 October and hosted by England and Wales and was wo ...

for the Kiwis, helping them to the semi-finals where they again went down to Australia in extra time. He signed with new

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 ...

club

Hunter Mariners The Hunter Mariners were an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Hunter Region's largest city, Newcastle. Hunter was formed in mid-1995 and was later disbanded at the end of 1997. The club was formed because of the Super Leagu ...

and after a season with his brother Kevin, ventured to play for the

Adelaide Rams The Adelaide Rams was an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The team was formed in 1995 for the planned rebel Super League competition. The Rams lasted two seasons, the first in the Super Lea ...

after moving to the forwards. Iro, who at the time played for the short-lived

(1997–98), earlier in 1998 became the only Rams player selected for international duty when he played in the ANZAC Test against Australia at the

North Harbour Stadium North Harbour Stadium is a stadium situated in Albany, in North Shore City, New Zealand. It was opened in 1997, after nearly a decade of discussion, planning and construction. Rugby union, association football, rugby league, and baseball are a ...

in Auckland. Iro's last international series was against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in late 1998 where he played from the bench in the first two tests of the series, both won by NZ. Following the demise of the Rams, 1999 found Iro at the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

before his return to

Coaching career

In 2005 Iro joined the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

coaching staff and in 2008 was named in inaugural coach of the Toyota Cup (Under-20s) team. He was appointed to the New Zealand coaching staff in February 2009. For the 2010 season, Iro was promoted to be the Warriors Assistant Coach. In 2010 Iro was appointed a

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

selector for two years. Following

Brian McClennan Brian "Bluey" McClennan (born 16 February 1962) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He was previously the head coach of the New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand national team (with whom he won t ...

's sacking on 21 August 2012, Iro was appointed the caretaker coach of the Warriors for the last two matches of the season. At the end of 2012 Iro left the club but rejoined for the 2015 season. Since 2017, he has been the head coach of the

Achievements

*Wigan:

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 ...

, Lancashire Cup,

Regal Trophy The Regal Trophy was an annual knock-out competition for British rugby league football clubs. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the competition was open to all professional clubs in the British rugby league system, but amateur teams ...

, Charity Shield

References

External links

*
Tony Iro Wigan Career Page
on the Wigan RL Fansite''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Iro, Tony 1967 births Living people Adelaide Rams players Auckland rugby league team players Cook Islands national rugby league team coaches Cook Island expatriate rugby league players Cook Island rugby league players Cook Island expatriate sportspeople in England Cook Island expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in Australia Hunter Mariners players Leigh Leopards players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Mount Albert Lions players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Cook Island descent New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors coaches Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers South Sydney Rabbitohs players Rugby league players from Auckland Sydney Roosters players Wigan Warriors players