Former rugby league enforcer Ian Roberts has recalled his emphatic response to an instance of homophobia he experienced during his footy career.
Roberts, 60, publicly announced he was gay in 1995, and the same year was picked for the NSW Blues.
Speaking on the Sportscafe Media podcast, the athletic forward revealed how he left an Origin teammate red-faced in the change room.
‘One of the players made it very obvious that he wasn’t very comfortable to have me there (next to him in the shower),’ Roberts said.
‘I was like, trust me mate, you’re safe… don’t flatter yourself, you have got nothing to worry about.’
In June last year, Roberts confirmed he had been diagnosed with epilepsy.
Former rugby league enforcer Ian Roberts has recalled his emphatic response to an instance of homophobia he experienced during his footy career
Speaking on the Sportscafe Media podcast, the athletic forward revealed how he left an Origin teammate red-faced in the change room (pictured, playing for Australia in 1994)
Roberts, 60, publicly announced he was gay in 1995 – he remains the only high-profile NRL player to do so
Roberts dropped his health bombshell when chatting with Today show host Karl Stefanovic about the dangerous ‘run it straight’ challenge, which generated huge interest on social media.
‘Repeated head knocks and concussions, the science is already out there. That’s damaging long-term,’ Roberts said.
‘I was just recently diagnosed – and I’m not just saying this because we’re on air, but it’s potentially to do with this – with epilepsy.
‘This is all potentially long-term stuff. I reckon the damage I did to myself was not taking the shots [tackles], it was making the shots.’
Stefanovic then asked how Roberts is dealing with the diagnosis.
‘I started a new process of medication, which has really helped,’ he said at the time.
‘When you’re 19 and 20, you never think you’re going to be 50 or 60, that’s too far away.
‘Knowing what I know now, my own personal situation, there are things I would have changed about my playing style.
‘I would definitely have changed – in 1990, when I made a conscious effort to pull off big hits to toughen up my image, I certainly wouldn’t be doing that again.’
Roberts burst onto the scene in 1986 with South Sydney, before further stints with Wigan in England, Manly and North Queensland.
When he was 21, legendary coach Jack Gibson labelled Roberts the ‘best front-rower in the game’.
The London-born star also played for NSW and Australia between 1990 and 1994 before retiring from the sport in 1998.
