Sharks star clarifies Magic Round mystery
Sharks star KL Iro has opened up on last week's decision to change his first name from Kayal, with the strike centre hoping it clears up any confusion about how to pronounce his name.
Fans would have noticed last Tuesday that his name had changed on the Cronulla team sheet, with the 25-year-old wanting to recognise his father's initials, with Kevin Leslie Iro dominating wherever he played.
The name change was something KL had always considered, with some commentators struggling to pronounce both his given name and surname. KL Iro received his first jersey from his father. NRL Images. Credit: The Daily Telegraph
'It was more for the pronunciation because it's actually how my name's pronounced,' the Cook Islands representative said.
'When I was a kid my dad used to always write anything that was mine 'KL'.
'I think he was just stubborn because my mum wouldn't want it to be a two-letter name when I was a kid.
'She's the one that changed it to Kayal. I think it was just foreign back then to have a two-letter name. But my dad always wanted it to be 'KL' and I like it that way too because it's easier to pronounce and there's no confusion.
'When I first moved to Australia, my dad always wanted me to change it, but I've always been a shy guy. I was too scared to step on anyone's toes.
'I guess I've built a bit of a relationship with these fellas now, so I asked the question and got it done pretty quickly.
'It's pretty cool for our family actually because even my dad and uncle when they were playing, the Pommies would pronounce it 'aye-ro', rather than 'ear-ro'. He obviously didn't care, he loved it.'
Iro is just happy to be back on the field after he missed a month with a hamstring injury that put the brakes on a very promising start to the season.
He made a strong return at Magic Round and extended his try-scoring streak to five matches to start the season, with Iro set to come up against Manly's powerful right edge on Sunday.
'I missed it,' he said.
'I felt I was ready to go two weeks ago but they were nervous to get me out there too quickly and possibly do it again. I'm happy to be back because I missed it.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
39 minutes ago
- Perth Now
NRL 'just making up charges' with Eels ref push: Moses
Mitch Moses says the NRL are "just making up their own charges", slamming the match review committee for citing his Parramatta teammate Dylan Brown over a referee push. Eels five-eighth Brown has pleaded guilty to the grade-two contrary contact charge he incurred for bumping into referee Gerard Sutton while running to contest a kick in Monday's 30-12 loss to Canterbury. Brown had eyes for the ball and put his hands into Sutton's back while running from behind the referee, who did not see him coming. The New Zealand international will serve his one-game ban in next Sunday's clash with Gold Coast given Parramatta have the bye this weekend. With the improving Eels still in the fight for a top-eight berth, Moses was incensed that his star halves partner had been charged for the contact, which he felt was completely incidental. "I don't understand it," Moses told AAP at NSW camp for the second State of Origin match. "He's competing for the ball, he's got his eyes up for the ball. "I don't know what you want him to do, stop competing and pull out of the play? Obviously the ref is there but it's a hard one." Players have received suspensions for contact with match officials before, with Melbourne halfback Jahrome Hughes notably sitting out one game in early 2024 for pushing Chris Butler. But the situation is complicated by the fact Wests Tigers halfback Jarome Luai also pushed a referee to the ground during round 14. Luai was not even charged for making contact with Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski as he too ran towards a kick in Sunday's loss to Penrith. "The judiciary is probably just making up their own charges at the moment. It's all over the shop," Moses said. Brown had a good track record with the match review committee until now, having not been cited in the last three years. Moses said his long-time teammate wasn't the type to show unnecessary aggression on the field, either. "There's not a bad bone in him," Moses said. "He's one of the nicest kids you'd ever meet. I don't think he's ever been in a push and shove on the field, not once. "And we're charging him for making contact with the ref while he's competing on a play while there's a high ball in play. I just don't understand. "No player means to go out and run into a ref. "I just don't understand where that mindset comes from, and we lose one of our best players because of it? Because he's competing on a play? It just doesn't make sense."
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
NRL round 15: Origin 19th and 20th men cleared to play, SuperCoach live Q&A
The second big bye round of the season was always going to be a tough one for SuperCoaches. And I'm sure many heads dropped when NSW coach Laurie Daley announced that SC stud Keaon Koloamatangi had won a place on his extended bench of the game in Perth. But I have the pleasure of being the bearer of good news - NSW's 19th man (Koloamatangi) WILL be available to play for Souths on Sunday. The 20th man (Lindsay Smith) would also be available but his side, Penrith, do not play in round 15. Annoyingly for Bulldogs fans - and his 8,158 SC owners - 18th man Matt Burton is not available for his club. For Queensland, none of the reserves - Mam (18th), Howarth (19th) and Horsburgh (20th man) were scheduled to play club footy this round anyway. Now for some quick Buy/Sell comments and then let's talk trades, captaincy choices or just general life advice via the comments section below: Jacob Kiraz - He might be rocking a 105 BE but that's no reason not to buy Kiraz. Even in a tough matchup Kiraz's position-leading offloading and superb tackle busting pretty much guarantees he'll reach 60 points. And round 15 features a positive matchup against Souths who are conceding the second-most points per game to CTW. If he doesn't hit his BE he'll go close. With the Dogs covering this big bye round and round 18 too it's easy to see why Kiraz is the most popular buy of the week. BUY Scott Drinkwater - As a non-owner I rejoiced in Drinkwater's round 11 shocker against Manly where he was held to just 14 points, and pencilled in this week as the one to pick him up at a reasonable price. Now $744K IS a reasonable price for a guy who is averaging 81.9PPG, but I'd be lying if I didn't write that I thought/hoped the Storm would do a slightly better job of containing the Cowboys fullback, but even with his 105 points last week Drinkwater still dropped $160K in the past three rounds and is a strong buy this week. Covers both major byes - BUY James Tedesco - For $100K more than Drinkwater you could get James Tedesco instead. Similarly to Drinkwater the Roosters skipper covers both major byes and he has some very juicy match-ups on the immediate horizon in the Knights (Round 15) and Wests Tigers (Round 18). It would be remiss of me not to mention that despite languishing in the bottom four both those teams have defended against fullbacks really well in 2025. I'm backing Teddy to buck that trend and average 85+ over the next month. BUY Haumole Olakau'atu - The Manly man mountain has been in beast mode the last two weeks scoring three tries, busting 13 tackles and averaging better than 100PPG over the span. Like many an edge forward, Olakau'atu can have the odd quiet game (he has scored 55 or fewer points five times this season) but the high ceiling (six scores of 80+ and three tonnes) more than offsets that for mine. Add to that a superb short term draw (Titans, Tigers, Souths), bye round coverage of rounds 15 and 18 and you have a strong BUY. Jamayne Isaako - The Dolphins winger went into last week's game as a bit of a buzz buy and he handsomely rewarded those that brought him in with a two try and eight goal thumper of a game. The Dolphins are definitely riding a wave of good form and have scored a combined 100 points in their past two games. This week they play a Cowboys team which is missing a slew of origin muscle and then they play the Knights and Rabbitohs. Plenty more points look up for grabs and at $625K Isaako is a good short-term buy. I don't see him as a keeper till the end but for those with trades to play with - or head-to-head matches to win - then he's a BUY. Isaiya Katoa - As I mentioned above the Dolphins are flying and a large part of that can be put down to the excellent form of young half Isaiya Katoa. While I ultimately prefer the goalkicking upside of the likes of Nathan Cleary, Nicho Hynes and Jamal Fogarty et al, Katoa has proven to be a very reliable HFB with nine scores of 60+ from his 13 starts and a season low of 42. Like Isaako above I'm not sure he's a guy you would ride with till the end but certainly a short to medium term option. TENTATIVE BUY Herbie Farnworth - Continuing on the Dolphins theme, those looking for a replacement for the injured KL Iro could do far worse than pivot to the reliable Englishman. Farnworth has scored a try in each of his past seven games - and grabbed a double last week. Obviously the streak will end at some point, but you'd probably back him to bag a few more four pointers in the next three rounds. BUY. Nathan Lawson - Firstly the good. The injury to Christian Tuipulotu could/should mean that the rugby union convert has decent medium-term job security. Now the bad. Lawson had a shocker against the Dolphins and his limitations under the high ball were brutally exposed. Coach Shane Flanagan loves to pull the trigger after a defeat and often it's a winger who cops the blame (even when those inside them probably deserve to cop it) so despite the aforementioned injury issues at the club Lawson's job security is just okay in my book. With a BE of 0 then if he is named on TLT, then I can see the case for grabbing him as a cheapie who potentially covers rounds 15 and 18. But beware Flanno. RISKY BUY Reuben Garrick - Grabbed an easy looking 82 points against the Knights last week and is a captaincy option this week against a severely depleted Gold Coast team. The axing of Daly Cherry-Evans from the Maroons, the return of Tom Trbojevic and the need to bounce back from a humiliating capitulation against the Knights last week, should have the Sea Eagles primed for this match and I'm expecting 100+ from Garrick. BUY Jacob Preston - Having served his four match suspension Jacob Preston will return this week for the Bulldogs. Preston was rocking a 5RA of 86.8 prior to his suspension and with just 2% ownership he looks like a great POD. It should be noted that Preston scores tries in four of his five previous matches - I don't know that he can maintain that rate. WEAK BUY. Tom Trbojevic - He's back! Again! But I can never trust Tom's body to hold up. PASS. Jaxson Paulo - A popular purchase after scoring 138 points in his past two games but there's definitely a case of caveat emptor here with Paulo only filing in on the wing for the injured Murray Taulagi. Add to that a shocking defensive lapse against the Storm and he's a PASS for me. Savelio Tamale - I was hoping to hold Tamale as a 6th CTW option to play on match-ups but a nasty knee injury looks set to rule him out for an extended period. SELL.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Munster named QLD skipper
State of Origin: Newly crowned Queensland captain Cameron Munster spoke to the media to discuss his captaincy ahead of Game 2 in Perth.
