{"id":723079,"date":"2026-06-08T13:04:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/723079\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T13:04:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:04:41","slug":"kane-evans-gay-100-footy-interview-homelessness-drug-and-alcohol-addiction-trent-robinson-and-rlpa-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/723079\/","title":{"rendered":"Kane Evans gay: 100% Footy interview; homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction; Trent Robinson and RLPA help"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former NRL player Kane Evans<\/a> has come out as gay in a powerful interview where he opened up on his battle with drug and alcohol addiction. <\/p>\n

The former Roosters<\/a>, Eels<\/a> and Warriors<\/a> forward revealed the news in an emotional interview with James Bracey for Nine\u2019s 100% Footy. He explained why he was homeless earlier this year<\/a> and the suicidal thoughts that have followed him since he was a teenager. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kane Evans on 100% Footy.\u00a0Nine<\/p>\n

\u201cI had three goals in life: to play NRL, to buy my parents a house, and then I wanted to top myself,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I was living in denial, from a young age I know that I\u2019m gay but I went down every other avenue to build up these walls to be someone to escape who I am.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still can\u2019t believe I\u2019m here talking to you, this is definitely my worst nightmare, but I know if I surrender, it\u2019s the start to a new life. I\u2019ve been fighting a war within since I was about 15 years old, and it\u2019s not sustainable. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was sleeping in parks, doing drugs, trying to ultimately pass away so I didn\u2019t have to come to this. But I know there are people struggling with the same struggle I\u2019ve gone through, so I\u2019m very blessed that I can come here and talk to you and be able to save a life or two. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve carried that around my whole life but I\u2019m here today to show people you don\u2019t have to live like that. Even now I feel more free just by saying it out loud. I\u2019ve brought it to light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans revealed he was subject to blackmail over his sexuality throughout the years, which brought \u201cshame and fear and guilt in myself\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019ve come and spoken about it, they\u2019ve lost their power,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing and just speaking today, fear shame and guilt, I\u2019ve cut ties with all that, and I feel peace within, and I feel a weight has lifted off my shoulders.\u201d <\/p>\n

Evans last played NRL at the Warriors in 2021 before a move to the Super League with Hull FC.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old admitted his drinking became worse in New Zealand as he lost himself and tried to understand who he was as a person and player. <\/p>\n

After taking his aggression to another level on the field, he was cut early from the Warriors which led to the move to the UK. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kane Evans at the Warriors.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Over those two years at Hull, he said his patterns of alcohol abuse spiralled and his contract was terminated six months early. <\/p>\n

Upon returing to Australia, he started a caf\u00e9 with a friend but a naive approach to doing business eventually saddled him with a debt of around $50,000. The caf\u00e9 closed and Evans started sleeping rough. <\/p>\n

\u201cI started going down a slippery slope. Started numbing myself with alcohol and drugs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back now I realise there were deeper things I was masking, and I was just using every outlet I could until the point where I was couch-surfing and became homeless.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was at this point that the RLPA<\/a>\u2019s past players and transition manager Joe Galuvao reached out to Evans for a coffee and delivered a profound message. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe said \u2018you know you deserve to live a good life? You deserve healing\u2019,\u201d Evans recalled. <\/p>\n

\u201cI sat there and thought about it: why do I deserve healing or a good life? <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he said that I started questioning maybe death isn\u2019t in the plan for me yet, maybe I do deserve to get help. I thank god he came and visited me, he got me into rehab with the help of the RLPA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans then went into rehab while his former coach at the Roosters, Trent Robinson<\/a>, also reached out and told him the club had his back.<\/p>\n

A week after leaving rehab, Robinson hosted Evans and his friend at Roosters headquarters and told him that the club would pay for his mental health programs.<\/p>\n

Robinson also dipped into his own pocket and paid four weeks of Evans\u2019 rent. Evans is now more than 130 days sober. <\/p>\n

The former Fiji representative is also dealing with the fact his mother is ill at the moment. <\/p>\n

Before the interview, he hadn\u2019t officially come out as gay to his parents but planned to tell them before it went to air on Monday\u2019s episode of 100% Footy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love my mum and dad so much and they know but I need to tell them, it has to come from my mouth,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum, she\u2019s ill at the minute, but I\u2019ve got so much love for them. By the time this airs I would have told them already, and I can\u2019t wait for that moment because then I\u2019ll be free. I feel free now but once I tell them I\u2019ll be free. Nothing will stop me after that. <\/p>\n

\u201c… I\u2019m very blessed that I\u2019ve faced my fears. I know some people who have done some gangster things, but I feel like this is up there. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of myself, when I look in the mirror I\u2019m going to smile now and not have those bad thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs immediate support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via lifeline.org.au<\/a>. In an emergency, call 000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former NRL player Kane Evans has come out as gay in a powerful interview where he opened up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-723079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723079","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=723079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}