Ian Roberts: The Man Who Terrified the NRL

About this episode

Ian Roberts discusses his fearless career in rugby league and his groundbreaking decision to come out as gay.

Is Ian Roberts one of the most fearless man to ever play rugby league? The Manly and NSW State of Origin enforcer who terrified opponents for over a decade - and in 1995, became the first rugby league player in the world to come out as gay. Thirty years later, no active NRL player has followed. This week Ian joins Connor Watson and Chris Lynn at Sportscafe to talk about the brutal era of rugby league that shaped him, the move called "Henry" designed to start all-in brawls, getting 40 stitches from Les Boyd, and what it was really like to come out in one of the toughest sporting environments on earth. Plus the boys break down the latest NRL action, rate the best sports social clips of the week, and the Sportscafe philosopher Chur Ma Bro is back.

People in this episode

Hosts: Connor Watson, Chris Lynn

Guest: Ian Roberts

Topics covered

• rugby league
• Ian Roberts
• coming out
• NRL history
• sports culture
• brawls in sports

Keywords

• Ian Roberts
• rugby league
• NRL
• coming out
• sports history
• brawls
• Les Boyd
• Manly
• NSW State of Origin

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NRL, Sportscafe

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