Krisnan Inu

Krisnan Nevada Inu (born 17 March 1987) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre or winger for the Salford Red Devils in the Betfred Super League. He has played for both New Zealand and Samoa at international level.

Krisnan Inu
Personal information
Full nameKrisnan Nevada Inu
Born (1987-03-17) 17 March 1987
Auckland, New Zealand
Height6 ft 2 in (1.87 m)
Weight16 st 10 lb (106 kg)[1]
Playing information
Rugby league
PositionCentre, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–10 Parramatta Eels 78 37 60 0 268
2011–12 New Zealand Warriors 21 12 0 0 48
2012–14 Canterbury Bulldogs 40 16 70 2 206
2015–17 Catalans Dragons 46 14 6 0 68
2018–19 Widnes Vikings 19 10 35 0 110
2019– Salford Red Devils 40 21 143 1 371
Total 244 110 314 3 1071
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–13 New Zealand 6 1 13 0 30
2014– Samoa 1 0 6 0 12
Rugby union
PositionFullback, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–15 Stade Français 10 4 0 0 20
As of 5 January 2021
Source: [2][3]

He has previously played the Parramatta Eels, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL, and the Catalans Dragons and the Widnes Vikings in the Super League. Inu is one of two players who have lost grand finals with three clubs.[4] He was a member of the 2008 World Cup-winning New Zealand team.[3]

Inu has also played rugby union for Stade Français of the Top 14 competition in France.

Background

Inu was born in Auckland, New Zealand and is of Samoan descent.

Playing career

Parramatta Eels

A Parramatta Eels junior, Inu made his first grade debut in the 2007 NRL season against the Canberra Raiders. After just one first grade match he was named to play for New Zealand in the ANZAC Day Test against Australia at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The Kangaroos ran out easy 30-6 winners over the Kiwis. After the test, Inu was dropped back to Premier League but returned to first grade through a series of injuries to regular players. Inu took on the kicking duties as Parramatta's primary kicker and full-back, Luke Burt, was injured mid-season. In round 25 Inu scored three tries and kicked seven goals in Parramatta's 46-point win over Brisbane.[5]

Inu played in Parramatta's 2007 preliminary final defeat by Melbourne at Docklands Stadium.[6] In August 2008, Inu was named in the New Zealand training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup,[7] and in October 2008, he was named in the final 24-man Kiwi squad that went on to win the tournament, playing one game in their win against Papua New Guinea.[8][9][10]

After a 2-4 start to the 2009 season, Parramatta decided to re-tool their line-up, dropping Inu to the New South Wales Cup, with Taulima Tautai replacing him for the round 7 match against the Brisbane Broncos.[11] Inu played in the 2009 NRL Grand Final for Parramatta against the Melbourne Storm at centre.[12] At the end of the 2010 season, Inu told coach Daniel Anderson that he would be joining The New Zealand Warriors on a two year deal.[13]

New Zealand Warriors

Inu played in New Zealand's 2011 NRL grand final loss to The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.[4] Inu's up-and-down tenure at the Warriors was curtailed in May 2012 with his release and immediate signing with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.[14]

Inu playing for the Bulldogs

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

Inu was released by the Warriors in May 2012 so he could immediately join the Des Hasler coached Bulldogs. He signed with the Bulldogs until the end of the 2015 season.[15] Inu played in the 2012 grand final for Canterbury.[16]

Catalans Dragons

Inu returned to rugby league and was signed by Catalans Dragons in June 2015 to add depth to a depleted squad.[17] On 17 November 2017, Inu signed a two year deal to join The Widnes Vikings.[18]

Widnes Vikings

On 4 April 2018 Inu broke his leg in a match against The Warrington Wolves. Before the injury, Inu had scored 6 tries in 9 games.[19]

Salford Red Devils

On the 27th of March 2019, it was announced on the Salford Red Devils official website that Inu, has signed a contract with immediate effect. He joins the Super League club on a deal that will see him return to the Super League after previous stints with Catalans Dragons, and Widnes Vikings.[20]

He played in the 2019 Super League Grand Final defeat by St. Helens at Old Trafford.[21][22][23]

On 17 October 2020, he played in the 2020 Challenge Cup Final defeat for Salford against Leeds at Wembley Stadium.[24]

Goal kicking style

Inu is known for smiling and laughing before attempting a conversion at goal. This was first revealed during the 2007 NRL season. It later became his trademark and some media Sydney media outlets dubbed him "The Smiling assassin". Inu explained his reason behind this saying "It started at training, Every time I practised kicking, the first thing I'd try to do is kick from the sideline and everyone would start bagging me out and I would start laughing. It's the same when the crowd starts booing. I just start smiling and laughing. If they are going to boo me I might as well laugh about it and if I get it over it just shows them up so I can laugh even more".[25][26]

References
  1. "Catalans Dragons Equipe Saison 2015". Catalans Dragons site officiel. Catalans Dragons S.A.S.P. 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  2. loverugbyleague
  3. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/krisnan-inu-becomes-just-second-player-in-history-to-lose-three-nrl-grand-finals-with-three-clubs/news-story/cfcf00adb832ab7be3bf94eedcddbda6?sv=c4c114a9a966239560d23b5cb437fce2
  5. "Parramatta 68 v Brisbane 22". Rugby League Tables. stats.rleague.com. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  6. "Melbourne v Parramatta". SMH.
  7. "Kiwis select Sonny Bill". Sky Sports. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  8. "Kiwis to wait on Webb and Matai". BBC. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  9. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2008/nov/22/new-zealand-rugby-league-world-cup
  10. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/league-the-nice-guy-finishing-first/SGKPLTIOIMZ7JG7FUUI47AJN4I/
  11. "Taylor, Inu out of Broncos-Eels clash". ABC News. 22 April 2009. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
  12. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/5716278/Warriors-Krisnan-Inu-old-hand-at-grand-finals
  13. http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/parramatta-stars-krisnan-inu-and-feleti-mateo-sign-for-new-zealand-warriors/news-story/ea8c05db765fa1ee845b4dddcb64b2b5?sv=58035e09474a5907a7cea7e9822529b8
  14. Parramatta stars Krisnan Inu and Feleti Mateo sign for New Zealand Warriors Daily Telegraph, 10 May 2010
  15. Inu leaves the Warriors to join Bulldogs New Zealand Herald, 24 May 2012
  16. https://www.nrl.com/news/2012/09/25/bulldogs-grand-final-team-list/
  17. http://www.3news.co.nz/sport/krisnan-inu-signs-with-catalans-dragons-2015061708#axzz3dK8MPT2t
  18. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/widnes-vikings-sign-krisnan-inu-13918286
  19. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/43647760
  20. https://www.salfordreddevils.net/salford-red-devils-seal-deal-for-krisnan-inu/
  21. "St Helens give Justin Holbrook the perfect send-off with commanding Grand Final victory over Salford". Telegraph. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  22. "St Helens 23-6 Salford Red Devils: Super League Grand Final – as it happened". The Guardian.
  23. "St Helens win 2019 Super League League Leaders' shield". Sky Sports.
  24. "Leeds beat Salford 17-16 after Luke Gale lands late winning drop-goal". www.bbc.co.uk.
  25. "More than reason to smile now". NZ Herald.
  26. "Best and worst of 2007". Herald Sun.
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