Ian Roberts (rugby league)

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Ian Roberts
London, England
Playing information
Height196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight112 kg (17 st 9 lb)
PositionProp, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1986–89 South Sydney 65 5 0 0 20
1986–87 Wigan 19 3 0 0 12
1990–95 Manly Sea Eagles 100 4 0 0 16
1997–98 North Qld Cowboys 29 3 0 0 12
Total 213 15 0 0 60
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1988–94 City NSW 5 0 0 0 0
1990–94 New South Wales 9 0 0 0 0
1990–94
Australia
13 3 0 0 12
1997 New South Wales (SL) 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Ian Roberts (born 31 July 1965) is a British-born Australian actor and former professional

Australian international representative forward, he played club football with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Wigan, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and North Queensland Cowboys. In 1995 Roberts became the first high-profile Australian sports person and first rugby footballer in the world to come out to the public as gay.[2]

Early life

Ian Roberts was born in 1965 in Chelsea, London, England, to a father who worked in construction and was an amateur boxer, and a housewife mother. The family emigrated as Ten Pound Poms in 1967 to South Sydney, Australia, where the family was guaranteed a new house, and his father was guaranteed a job, continuing to work in construction. He was educated at Maroubra Bay High School.[3]

Football career

Club career

As a junior Roberts played for the Mascot Jets in the Souths juniors competition. He made his first grade début with the Rabbitohs in the 1986 Winfield Cup season and his form early on saw him touted as a bolter for the 1986 Kangaroo Tour, though ultimately he would miss selection.

At the end of the 1986 Sydney season, Roberts began a short stint with English club

John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1986–87 season at Burnden Park in Bolton on Saturday 10 January 1987.[5]

By the age of 21, Jack Gibson had described him as "the best front rower in the game",[6] and in 1988 Roberts made the first of five appearances for City Origin team.[7]

Despite not having yet played for either

AU$100,000 more.[8]

After moving from the South Sydney club to Manly he quickly justified his value with

Australian Rugby League. He played in Manly's upset loss to Canterbury in the 1995 ARL season
's Grand Final.

Roberts sat out the 1996 season due to injuries and a contract dispute related to the

Townsville to captain the side. His career wound down in 1998 under the increasing weight of injuries.[9]

State of Origin

Roberts made nine appearances for the New South Wales State of Origin team between 1990 and 1994. He was an enforcer in the NSW forward pack. A fit athlete, he collapsed from exhaustion after a tireless effort in game one of 1993. The Blues won six of the nine matches in which Roberts played.

Post-playing

In 2000, Roberts was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. He served on the National Rugby League's judiciary during the 2000s[10] and in 2004 was named by Souths in their South Sydney Dream Team,[11] which consists of 17 players and a coach representing the club from 1908 through to 2004. In 2005, he was named one of the 25 greatest ever New South Wales players.[12] In March 2014, Roberts revealed that he has brain damage after being knocked out up to a dozen times in his playing career.[13]

Life outside football

Roberts came out as gay in 1995, becoming the first rugby league player in the world to do so. He discussed his

Peter Sterling and Steve Roach appeared in a poster campaign against homophobia conducted by the Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project. He was praised for helping to question prevailing myths about gays and sport. Paul Freeman wrote a book on Roberts, Ian Roberts – Finding Out, which was published in 1997.[14]

In 1999 Roberts was taken to court by Garry Jack over an on-field brawl that occurred in 1991.[15] Jack stated he was taking a stand against a beating he received from several Manly players. He attempted to sue Roberts for $100,000 in damages, alleging he suffered shock, traumatic injuries to his face and eyes, cuts, headaches and numbness, and was embarrassed by scarring to his face. Jack and Roberts eventually settled the dispute out of court with Roberts handing over more than $50,000.

Roberts has stated he is a sex abuse victim,[16] and gave evidence to the State Coroner of New South Wales in regard to the murder of Arron Light, a teenage boy who was set to give evidence against a paedophile syndicate. Light disappeared in 1997, and his remains were recovered in 2002. Roberts accused the same man who molested him in his teens of being behind Light's death.[16] This story was the subject of an episode of the Australian TV program Australian Story, entitled "The Lost Boy", which first aired on 26 September 2005.

Early in 2005, Roberts appeared in the second series of the Australian television series Dancing with the Stars, dancing with Natalie Lowe. He was runner up in the competition, losing out to Tom Williams.

Roberts appeared on the 17 July 2007 cover of

Canadian author and journalist Michael Rowe, along with a photo layout by celebrity photographer Eric Schwabel.[17][citation needed
]

In September 2010, Roberts publicly criticised Australian swimming star Stephanie Rice for calling the South African rugby union team "faggots" on Twitter, branding her "a complete idiot".[18]

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Roberts has twice stood unsuccessfully as an ALP candidate for the Council of the City of Sydney in 2016 and 2021.[19][20]

Ian Roberts is a director and co-founder of Qtopia Sydney, an Australian museum of LGBTQ history and culture which opened in February 2024.[21]

Acting career

Roberts finished playing professional rugby league in 1998, and began studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. In 2003 he moved to the United States in search of acting opportunities.[22]

Roberts made a very brief

Zam Wesell. In 2005, Roberts had a brief cameo in the Australian film Little Fish, starring Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving, playing an ex-rugby league star. He appeared in the 2006 motion picture Superman Returns as Riley, a henchman of Lex Luthor.[23]

In 2009, Roberts appeared in the Australian television mini-series

ABC1 and had a small role in the film Cedar Boys. In 2012 Ian landed his first starring role in the film Saltwater, starring opposite Ronnie Kerr, which is also Ian's first role playing a gay man.[24]

In 2016 he appeared in Craig Boreham's gay-themed film Teenage Kicks, playing a straight single father.[25] In 2021 Roberts appeared in episode 1, series 3 of Mr Inbetween playing small-time arms dealer, Graham.[26] In 2022 he appeared in Boreham's followup film Lonesome.[27]

References

  1. ^ Rugby League Project
  2. The Advocate
    . Here Publishing. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  3. TheGuardian.com
    . 17 August 2015.
  4. ^ "1986–1987 Lancashire Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2011. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  5. ^ "1986–1987 John Player Special Trophy Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2011. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  6. Good Weekend
    (30 January 2010). Pyrmont, NSW: Fairfax Media: 17.
  7. ^ "Ian Roberts". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  8. ^ On the Couch with Sterlo - Ian Roberts One on One
  9. ^ "Legend Q&A: Ian Roberts". www.nrl.com.
  10. News Limited
    . Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  11. ^ South Sydney Dream Team Archived 14 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine from the official South Sydney website.
  12. ^ "Origin's 25 greatest named". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 March 2005. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  13. ^ Brad Walter (9 March 2014). "Ian Roberts says he has brain damage". "Sydney Morning Herald". Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  14. ^ Erin Tennant (3 September 2008). "League player charged over on-field assault". Ninemsn. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  15. ^ a b "Witness was grandstanding, says coroner". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 September 2006.
  16. ^ Towle, Andy (13 July 2007). "Rugby Icon Ian Roberts Battled Slurs with Kisses". Towleroad. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  17. 3 News
    . Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  18. ^ Saulwick, Jacob (1 August 2016). "Former rugby league star Ian Roberts tackles homelessness as Labor candidate". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  19. Sydney Star Observer
    . Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  20. ^ https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/a-horrible-place-for-gays-is-now-wonderful-thanks-to-the-toughest-bloke-i-ve-met-20240214-p5f4x7.html
  21. ^ "From running on rugby league fields to acting on the Hollywood big screen". Fox Sports. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  22. ^ Vagg, Stephen (12 July 2019). "Good Sports: Australian Athletes Who Act". Filmink.
  23. ^ Sweetbriar, BeBe (29 May 2012). "Rugby great Ian Roberts takes first gay role in 'Saltwater'". edgeboston.com. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  24. Filmink
    , 21 February 2017.
  25. ^ Myers, Matt (January 2023). "Feature articles: Ian Roberts". The Celebrity Whisperer. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  26. ^ David Rooney, "‘Lonesome’: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter, 23 June 2022.

Further reading

External links