More Than Just Rugby Roberts the LGBTQ Legend Who Inspires. It was as if Mick Potter had vanished. Suddenly, the fullback from St. George surged onto the field, arms raised high, charging into open space. And then, he was gone. In his place were only dry patches of earth and a tangled mass of limbs. As the dust settled, the cause became clear. Standing over Potter was Ian Roberts, a towering 6-foot-4-inch, 16-year-old powerhouse. He barked at his opponent sprawled on the ground, commanding him to get up and play the ball. Turning to his teammates, the imposing figure rallied them with a call to follow his lead.
list of contents
1. Australian Rugby League: The LGBTQ Legend
2. Another Side to the LGBTQ Legend
3. A Gray Line: A Brief Glimpse into Ian Roberts’ Journey
4. Roberts’ Rapid Rise in Rugby League
5. When the Work Permit Hurdle Cleared
6. The Final Chapter of Roberts’ Rugby Journ
7. The Turning Point: Roberts’ Final Test and His Public Revelation
Australian Rugby League: The LGBTQ Legend
In the early 1990s, Australian rugby league was an unforgiving arena—a school of hard knocks, where strength trumped empathy. At the pinnacle of this tough world stood Ian Roberts, a force to be reckoned with. He was the highest-paid player in the country after signing a lucrative deal with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, earning a staggering quarter of a million dollars annually.
“My work rate was always high,” Roberts shared with BBC Sport as he reflected on a career spanning over three decades.
“I tackled hard and played with caution when running the ball up. I could offload well, and I had other skills too. I was effective under high balls. When I played for Manly, I became more of a leader. I grew in confidence, and my reputation was built on my aggressive defensive style.”
Another Side to the LGBTQ Legend
In the back of Ian Roberts’ car, alongside his gear bag, there was another suitcase. But instead of muddy boots and shorts, this one might hold a neatly pressed navy jacket and silk parachute pants. After dominating the rugby field on a Saturday afternoon, Roberts would spend his Saturday nights on Oxford Street—Sydney’s iconic gay district.
“It was there that I found the people I admired most,” Roberts said. “The trans people, the drag queens, just the street gays doing their thing—living and living large. I was always in awe of these people and felt their strength and energy.”
“But it really messed with my head,” he admitted. “I’d feel like a fraud because I was pretending to be someone else.”
That pretense was on the verge of collapsing. By his own words, Roberts’ sexuality was “rugby league’s worst-kept secret.” The slow trickle of rumors was about to become a watershed moment—not just for Roberts, but for the sport and his country.
A Gray Line: A Brief Glimpse into Ian Roberts’ Journey
Ian Roberts’ story unfolded in Australia, but its roots were planted and nurtured in England. Born in Battersea in 1965, Roberts spent his early years in London before his father, Ray, unsettled by the city’s growing population, decided to move their small family to Australia. They settled in a modest government house in Maroubra, then a working-class suburb of Sydney near the sea. However, the change in scenery did little to alter the underlying tensions in his upbringing.
“My family had a lot of love,” Roberts explained. “But the truth is, I grew up in a household full of racism, misogyny, and homophobia. It was made very clear in my home that same-sex attraction was neither something to be proud of nor even spoken about.”
Roberts vividly recalls a defining moment at the age of seven. Sitting beside his father watching an ABC documentary called Chequerboard, he saw two men kissing—the first time such a scene aired on Australian television.
“I remember thinking, ‘That’s what I am.’ But my father, sitting right next to me, said, ‘That makes my skin crawl.’”
That moment set the tone. Ray didn’t ask, Ian didn’t tell, and for a time, an uncomfortable silence hung heavy between them.
Roberts’ Rapid Rise in Rugby League
Ian Roberts made his debut for South Sydney at the age of 20, skipping past the usual developmental stages. He bypassed the under-23 team and the reserves, leaping straight into the first-grade squad. By the following season, he was named the best prop in Australia, a prestigious honor typically reserved for seasoned veterans. Yet, while his athletic success soared, separating his two lives—rugby star and closeted gay man—proved far more complicated than the simple act of packing two separate bags.
“The stereotype about gay men being weak, combined with the eroticized idea of contact sports, sometimes made me want to quit,” Roberts admitted.
“I felt I had to be ‘more of a man,’ to appear tougher and more dangerous. I couldn’t be brave in the way some gay men are in their lives, so I channeled that bravery into physicality on the field.”
Off the field, Roberts found refuge in the vibrant nightlife of Sydney’s Oxford Street. Though rugby locker rooms could be hostile environments, Roberts described his time at South Sydney as relatively supportive.
“Some of the guys would joke, but I was never made to feel uncomfortable,” he recalled. However, playing alongside teammates he knew less intimately—whether at the state level with New South Wales or internationally with Australia—posed greater challenges, especially when prejudices were masked under the guise of camaraderie.
His brief stint playing in England, however, proved the toughest of all. Far from his support network and familiar environments, Roberts grappled with deeper isolation and the pressures of a society less tolerant than the one he knew back home.
When the Work Permit Hurdle Cleared
Following his legacy, Ian Roberts briefly joined Wigan during the latter months of the 1986-87 season. “I had a great time at Wigan and met some wonderful people, but I quickly realized that the locker room was a deeply homophobic space,” Roberts recalled.
“Coming from Sydney, where post-game showers were common, I was surprised that in England, both teams would jump into a big communal bath together. Everyone was paranoid in there, acting like a group of gays, but there was real tension. Conversations about gay people were horrifying. It wasn’t just unwelcoming—it felt dangerous, like violence was a real possibility.”
Confused and cautious, Roberts didn’t explore Wigan’s gay scene or venture to nearby cities like Liverpool, Manchester, or London. Instead, he endured a culture fueled by the fear and stigma of the AIDS epidemic, a fear that influenced both teammates and opponents alike.
So when Justin Fashanu came out a few years later—becoming the first openly gay professional footballer at the top level of English football—Roberts watched from afar with intense interest.
“In 1990, we didn’t have the internet or smartphones,” Roberts said. “It was all through newspapers, radio, TV, or the gay rags we had. Justin Fashanu was my hero. I was in awe of him, amazed by his bravery.
“Then to see the backlash he faced from fans, to see the British media tear him apart—I felt terrible about how he was treated. It kept me from coming out for another four years.”
In 1994, Roberts started all three games of Australia’s triumphant series against Great Britain. By the time Fashanu came out publicly, Roberts had begun taking those steps privately.
During a break from her job as a cleaner for Qantas Airways, Ian Roberts’ mother overheard two colleagues laughing over a baseless rumor that Ian had been caught by police having sex with another man in public. Unaware of her connection to him, the coworkers continued their cruel gossip. While Roberts’ parents could dismiss occasional jeers from the rugby stands, this was different—outside the context of a crowd, in their workplace, and directed at them.
Roberts was summoned to the family home without knowing why. Walking into a tense, funeral-like atmosphere, he found his mother in tears and his father visibly uneasy.
“My dad retold the story and then said, ‘We just need to hear you say you’re not gay, and that will be enough for us,’” Roberts recalled.
The demand hung in the air for a moment. Roberts stared blankly at the television, then, exhausted and frustrated, told his parents the opposite.
“My dad’s first words were, ‘But you play football. You play for Australia.’ That’s where his mind went,” Roberts said.
For the next 18 months, Roberts didn’t speak to his parents. The estrangement weighed on him as he transferred from South Sydney to Manly. During that time, he considered publicly sharing his truth. But fearing the continued pain it might cause his parents—and shaken by the hostile global reaction to Justin Fashanu’s coming out—he chose to remain silent a little longer.
The Final Chapter of Roberts’ Rugby Journey
Australia’s 1994 Great Britain tour marked the end of an era for the Kangaroos, featuring an 18-game itinerary with three crucial test matches against Great Britain. The first test saw an upset victory for Great Britain, highlighted by Jonathan Davies’ iconic Wembley try. Australia rebounded decisively in the second test, delivering a commanding 38-8 win at Old Trafford. Roberts started in both matches, but a phone call to his hotel room in Leeds before the decider at Elland Road introduced a moment of uncertainty.
Australian rugby legend and then-coach Bob “Bozo” Fulton requested to meet Roberts in person.
“You never get that call unless you’re being dropped,” Roberts recalled.
“I took the lift up to the penthouse suite where Bozo was staying. The door was slightly ajar, and I saw Bozo pacing back and forth.
“I went in and sat down. He kept pacing, looking so serious. I started to worry something bad had happened back home.
“Finally, he stopped and said, ‘How do I put this? Shane can’t be staying in your room.’”
Shane wasn’t staying with Roberts. Contrary to the reports the team management had received, Shane—like other players’ partners—was staying in a separate hotel.
“Bozo looked so relieved. ‘Mate, I’m so glad to hear that. Great. That’s all I needed to say.’
“I later realized it had been a big deal. The team manager hadn’t wanted to talk to me about it, leaving it to Bozo, who never explicitly acknowledged me as gay.
“But it became a profound moment of acceptance for me—a validation of who I was as a person. When I walked out, I thanked him, and he simply said, ‘It’s all good, Robbo. It’s all good.’
“There was so much unspoken understanding in that exchange. Sometimes, having those uncomfortable conversations and confronting them head-on takes the weight out of them entirely.”
The incident was more than a resolution; it symbolized Roberts’ quiet journey toward self-acceptance within the often harsh world of professional rugby.
The Turning Point: Roberts’ Final Test and His Public Revelation
Ian Roberts started the third and final test of Australia’s 1994 Great Britain tour, helping secure a series victory for the Kangaroos. Before returning home, Roberts gave a groundbreaking interview that introduced the world to both Shane, his partner, and his identity as a gay man. This declaration made him the first openly gay player in Australia’s top-tier rugby league—a distinction that remains unique even nearly 30 years later.
“I felt like I could finally breathe properly for the first time in a long time,” Roberts said, reflecting on the moment.
“It took the bullets out of people’s guns. You gain a certain respect from others when you own who you are and feel comfortable with yourself. There’s power in that, and people can sense it in you.”
For his Manly teammates, who were already aware of Roberts’ sexuality, his public announcement became a rallying point.
“It was a bonding moment for us,” Roberts shared. “They were my tribe, my people. At times, it felt like they were trying to protect me.”
Roberts acknowledged the stark contrast between his experience and that of Justin Fashanu, the first openly gay professional footballer in England, who faced severe backlash.
“My experience was different from Justin’s—I was embraced,” Roberts explained.
“My persona as an aggressive player, someone who could handle himself on the field, challenged people’s perceptions of what it meant to be gay.
“Of course, there was some pushback. But knowing what I know now, I would have entered the professional rugby league as an openly gay man from the start.”
Roberts’ courage not only shattered stereotypes but also set a powerful precedent, fostering conversations about inclusivity and acceptance in sports. His legacy continues to inspire both athletes and fans around the world.
More Than Just Rugby Roberts, who is now 57 years old
Values the power of those conversations, both big and small. Having transitioned into acting after retiring from rugby league, Roberts lives in Sydney with Dan, his long-term partner. He is on the board of Qtopia, Australia’s first LGBT history museum, which is set to open later this month in Sydney. The museum will include both reflections on the past and celebrations of the present. Sports will be part of it. In Australia, as in England, storytelling about the nation is often a way of telling
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Roberts has seen this in rugby league.
Before the 2017 Australian public vote on marriage equality, the performance by American rapper Macklemore of his song “Same Love” at the NRL Grand Final sparked debates. Last year, the refusal by players from Manly, Roberts’ former club, to wear specially designed Pride jerseys was also a point of contention. Roberts has witnessed similar situations in other sports, with Australian footballer Josh Cavallo and diver Matthew Mitcham both sharing their truths and the reactions they faced, something he has seen up close.
Ray, Roberts’ father, passed away in December 2014. However, before making peace with himself and his son, he had once struggled with the idea of Australian athletes being openly gay. “My father’s journey was truly remarkable. In the end, he became a champion and a great ally,” said Ian Roberts, the LGBTQ legend. “The interviewer used to tell him he must be so proud of me. My father would say, ‘I’m proud of all my children equally, but I will tell you I’m very grateful that one of my sons is gay because, in the end, I got to see the world as it really is.'” Roberts’ story is one of being gay in Australia, England, and anywhere else it can truly happen.