Ian Roberts (rugby league footballer)
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- This article is about the rugby league player. For others, see Ian Roberts.
Ian Roberts (born 31 July 1965 in London, England) is an former Australian rugby league player and actor. Late in his football career he declared himself gay and achieved much attention in Australia and worldwide as a result.
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[edit] South Sydney career
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 |
[edit] Manly Warringah career
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 |
[edit] North Queensland career
In the upheaval in rugby league in the mid 1990's, Roberts signed with the North Queensland Cowboys moving to Townsville to captain the side. His career wound down in 1998 under the increasing weight of injuries.
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.
[edit] State of Origin career
Roberts made 9 appearances for the New South Wales State of Origin team between 1990 and 1994. He was an intimidating enforcer in the NSW forward pack and one of the toughest to grace the Origin stage. An amazingy fit athlete he famously collapsed from exhaustion after a typically tireless effort in Game I of 1993. The Blues won six of the nine matches in which Roberts played.
In 2005 he was named one of the 25 greatest ever NSW players.
[edit] Life after football
Ian finished playing professional football in 1998 and began studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. He served on the National Rugby League Judiciary in 2001.
Well known in the Sydney gay circle for some time, Ian came out publicly in 1995, appearing in magazines and on television over the following year. 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. This story was the subject of an episode of the Australian TV program Australian Story, entitled "The Lost Boy", which first aired on September 26, 2005.
Paul Freeman's book Ian Roberts - Finding Out was published in 1997 (ISBN 0-09-183336-1).
In 2004 he was named by Souths in their South Sydney Dream Team,[1], consisting of 17 players and a coach representing the club from 1908 through to 2004.
On July 1 2006, Ian Roberts was charged over an incident involving his former partner, Ben Prideaux. The 30-year-old male is alleged to have suffered cuts and bruises on his forearms in the incident.
He also appeared in the 2006 motion picture Superman Returns as Riley, a henchman of Lex Luthor.
[edit] External links
- Ian Roberts at the Internet Movie Database
- State of Origin Offical website Rugby League Player Stats
- The World of Ian
- Australian Story Episode - The Lost Boy
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ South Sydney Dream Team from the official South Sydney website.
