The Sydney Roosters have appointed Kane Evans to their NSW Cup coaching staff as the former Tricolours forward rebuilds his life.
During an emotional interview with 100% Footy earlier this month, Evans revealed how struggles with his sexuality led to substance abuse and suicidal thoughts.
Kane Evans on 100% Footy. Nine
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the Roosters offered Evans a temporary assistant coaching role with the club’s reserve grade team last week. The team is coached by Brett Morris.
Evans had been working in scaffolding and was reportedly exposed to homophobic slurs on various job sites recently.
“It’s only a small role, we’re trying to help him find a proper job out there,” club owner and chairman Nick Politis told the SMH.
“I saw him the other day at training wearing all the gear. He loves it, he was glad to feel a part of something again, and it was nice to see him back.”
Roosters coach Trent Robinson also invited Evans to the NRL team’s captain’s run.
Evans spent the first four seasons of his eight-year NRL career at Bondi and spoke of the respect he has for the premiership-winning coach.
“He called me just to let me know [that] the Roosters is still my home, and that they’ve got my back in whatever I’m facing,” Evans said on 100% Footy.
“‘Robbo’, out of his own money, paid four weeks of my rent, because I had just got into a place that week.”
Speaking after the interview aired, Robinson said: “I’m really proud of the club, but we still had a guy here for six years that didn’t feel open enough to say that he was gay while he was here.”
There are no plans for Evans to make a comeback on the field, although there’s hope he could play for the Glebe Dirty Reds in the Ron Massey Cup later in the year.
Kane Evans playing for the Roosters in 2015. Getty Images