Ian Roberts (rugby league)
- This article is about the rugby league player. For others, see Ian Roberts.
Ian Roberts (born 31 July 1965 in London, England) is an Australian rugby league player and actor. During his career he voluntarily declared himself to be homosexual, and achieved much attention in Australia and worldwide as a result.
South Sydney Rabbitohs
He played as a Souths junior in his early career, as a forward. He battled to overcome a series of injuries to reach his full potential in the Test arena. Despite not having yet played for either New South Wales or Australia, Roberts signed a huge contract with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in 1990.
Rabbitohs Statistics
| Year | G | T | Gls | FGls | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986-1989 | 65 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
After moving from the Rabbitohs to Manly he quickly justified his value with State of Origin selection and a Test debut against New Zealand. Roberts finally made a Kangaroo tour, leading the way up front in Australia's Ashes winning 24-3 Third Test victory at Elland Road. Not long after, Roberts signed with Super League despite his club and coach Bob Fulton remaining loyal to the Australian Rugby League.
Sea Eagles Statistics
| Year | G | T | Gls | FGls | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-1995 | 100 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
North Queensland Cowboys
In the upheaval in rugby league in the mid 1990's, Roberts signed with theNorth Queensland Cowboys moving to Townsville to captain the side. His career wound down in 1998 under the increasing weight of injuries. After his retirement, Roberts joined NIDA to pursue an acting career and served on the National Rugby League Judiciary in 2001.
Cowboys Statistics
| Year | G | T | Gls | FGls | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 1998 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Totals | 29 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
Legend: Gms = Games, Trs = Tries, Gls = Goals, FGls = Field Goals, Pts = Points.
Life After Football
Ian finished playing professional football in 1998 and began studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. He stars in the current motion picture Superman Returns.
Though he had been well known in Sydney gay circles for some time, Ian came out publicly in 1995, appearing in magazines and on television over the coming year. Interestingly, the rugby league world was generally very supportive, with other players commenting that it was important to be "true to yourself" while The Footy Show principals Paul Vautin, Peter Sterling and Steve Roach appeared in a poster campaign against homophobia conducted by the Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project.
Roberts was praised for helping to question prevailing myths about gays and sport.
Roberts gave evidence to the State Coroner of New South Wales in regard to the murder of Arron Light. Light was a street prostitute who was set to give evidence against a paedophile syndicate. He disappeared in 1997 and his remains were recovered in 2002.
On the 26 September 2005 an Australian TV program Australian Story aired an episode focusing on Roberts titled The Lost Boy.
Paul Freeman's book Ian Roberts - Finding Out was published in 1997. Source: Gay & Lesbian Sport
On 1 July 2006 an assault charged was placed to authorities by Ian's partner. The 30 year old male suffered cuts and bruises on his forearms in the incident. The case is scheduled to appear in courts on 5 July 2006 as reported by ABC.net.au