{"id":225052,"date":"2025-10-19T12:01:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T12:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/225052\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T12:01:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T12:01:12","slug":"nrl-great-makes-shocking-revelation-that-multiple-senior-players-threatened-to-snub-1994-kangaroos-tour-because-of-openly-gay-team-mate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/225052\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL great makes shocking revelation that multiple senior players threatened to snub 1994 Kangaroos tour because of openly gay team-mate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three big names in the Australian rugby league world threatened to snub a call-up to the Kangaroos<\/a> tour of England in 1994, after they heard rumours that footy great Ian Roberts was gay, according to one of the sport’s former administrators.<\/p>\n

In a new documentary reflecting on the life of the NRL<\/a>\u2019s first openly gay star, Roberts, a shocking interview with former Australian Rugby League chief executive John Quayle revealed that multiple players told him that they did not want to \u2018share a room\u2019 with the former Manly player.<\/p>\n

The documentary, which is entitled Light – The Ian Roberts Story, is scheduled to be released in cinemas next winter during the 2026 State of Origin series.<\/p>\n

Directed by Heath Davis, the film will provide an account of the difficulties that Roberts faced in his life, how he hid aspects of himself from those around him and his journey to coming out as the first openly gay rugby league player in 1995.<\/p>\n

Roberts enjoyed a glittering career in rugby league, notably becoming the NRL\u2019s highest-paid player in 1990 after joining Manly from South Sydney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The London-born prop, who made nine State of Origin appearances for the New South Wales<\/a> Blues, would debut for the Kangaroos in 1990, but would be selected for the side\u2019s tour of England in 1994.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A documentary about the life of rugby league’s first openly-gay player Ian Roberts, is set to be released next year\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"However, <\/p>\n

However, a former NRL player, coach and administrator has revealed that back in 1994, several Australian senior players learned that Roberts (pictured top) was gay and threatened to boycott the Kangaroos tour to Europe<\/p>\n

Quayle, speaking to producers on camera, revealed he was left stunned by the reaction of Roberts\u2019 addition to the squad for that tour.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was quite shocked a little while later when Ian was selected for Australia to go on a Kangaroo tour, the representatives \u2013 three at the time, players \u2013 came into the office of the ARL to indicate that if Ian Roberts was selected in the team, they wouldn\u2019t want to go,\u2019 Quayle said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Which was quite a shock to someone like me. I\u2019d never heard of anything like that because the ultimate prize for a player was the Australian jumper.\u2019<\/p>\n

Quayle was unable to reveal the names of the three players who had made the comments, but revealed that he had asked why they reacted in the way they did.<\/p>\n

\u2018Well, they\u2019d heard the rumours that Ian was gay\u2026\u2019 Quayle said. \u2018I remember one in particular used strong language and those languages back then was: \u201cHe\u2019s a p***\u2026 we don\u2019t want to room in that situation\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

However, he did go on to reveal that the players were senior members of the squad.<\/p>\n

Quayle insisted that selectors never had any thought of omitting Roberts from the side to keep the other three players in the squad.<\/p>\n

Former Manly player and coach Ken Arthurson had been working as the chairman of the Australian Rugby League at the time.<\/p>\n

\"Australian <\/p>\n

Australian Rugby League chief executive John Quayle (pictured) revealed that multiple players told him that they did not want to \u2018share a room\u2019 with the former Manly player<\/p>\n

And Quayle revealed that he had gone to Arthurson to inform him of the situation.<\/p>\n

\u2018I went to Ken and said: \u201cLook, we\u2019ve got a couple of players here that, if selected, don\u2019t want to tour with Ian Roberts\u201d,\u2019 he explained.<\/p>\n

\u2018Well, Ken Arthurson was absolutely shocked because he was a long-term administrator, he\u2019d never heard \u2013 like any of us \u2013 something like this.<\/p>\n

\u2018So Ken\u2019s comment to me, which I remember so clearly, was: \u201cWell, that\u2019s good mate, just tell them they won\u2019t be selected. That\u2019s an easy decision.\u201d And that was it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Roberts would go on to make nine appearances on the tour, while appearing in four Tests, with the tourists going on to win the Test series against Great Britain.<\/p>\n

Roberts opened up on the tour itself, stating to The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a>: \u2018We all became good friends.\u2019<\/p>\n

But he revealed that he had been unable to watch Quayle\u2019s interview because it was too provocative.<\/p>\n

\u2018I hadn\u2019t got all the way through it\u2026 I can\u2019t watch it,\u2019 the former Australian star said.<\/p>\n

\"Roberts <\/p>\n

Roberts came out as gay in 1995, before leaving the Manly Sea Eagles to join up with the North Queensland Cowboys in 1997<\/p>\n

After coming out in 1995, Roberts would leave the Sea Eagles and join up with the North Queensland Cowboys in 1997, having spent a year on the sidelines due to injuries and contractual issues resulting from the Super League War.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d hang up the boots in 1998 due to injuries, but would later pursue a career in acting, most recently appearing in the Hollywood blockbuster, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.<\/p>\n

Roberts would become a member of the Australian Labor Party, standing twice to become a candidate for the Council of the City of Sydney.<\/p>\n

However, speaking on how the game has evolved over the years, Roberts admitted that rugby league in Australia could have done more to promote inclusivity since he retired from the game.<\/p>\n

It came after seven Sea Eagles players had refused to play in a match in 2022, after they objected to wearing dedicated pride jerseys that featured a rainbow pattern.<\/p>\n

Being a former Manly great, Roberts said: \u2018That was so sad for me. And it was my old club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I was like: \u201cGuys, you have to understand the consequences of what you\u2019re doing, the way they play out. You\u2019ll never know about it, but it can be catastrophic\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018Rugby league had an opportunity 30 years ago to be a world leader in and around this space.<\/p>\n

\u2018We could have really stepped up to the plate when I came out.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Roberts <\/p>\n

Roberts believes that rugby league has to do more to improve attitudes, stating: \u2018Rugby league had an opportunity 30 years ago to be a world leader in and around this space.<\/p>\n

The NRL has taken greater steps in recent years in terms of promoting inclusivity, with the NRL providing training and education on the subject as it bids to ensure everyone can participate in the sport.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s director, Heath Davis, explained to The Sydney Morning Herald that viewers will be shocked by the documentary.<\/p>\n

\u2018They have no idea, truly,\u2019 Davis said. \u2018I thought I had a pretty good grasp of it, but I was just scraping the surface. And even today, we continue to find more WTF discoveries.<\/p>\n

\u2018He\u2019s still living the narrative each day. Plot lines just thicken. This story is much bigger than Ian. It\u2019s really an allegory, and he represents so many people in telling it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Supporters can donate to the film\u2019s production here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three big names in the Australian rugby league world threatened to snub a call-up to the Kangaroos tour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,100,1208,761,762,158,588,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-225052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-national-rugby-league","13":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","14":"tag-nrl","15":"tag-sport","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}