{"id":723380,"date":"2026-06-08T16:37:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/723380\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T16:37:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:37:33","slug":"kane-evans-comes-out-as-gay-on-100-footy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/723380\/","title":{"rendered":"Kane Evans comes out as gay on 100% Footy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Former NRL enforcer and Fijian international Kane Evans has detailed his battles with alcohol, substance addiction and suicidal thoughts while wrestling with his sexuality in an emotional interview aired on Channel Nine\u2019s 100% Footy on Monday night.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old is just the second male player to publicly come out as gay in professional Australian rugby league, and the first to do so since pioneering former NSW Origin and Kangaroos star Ian Roberts 31 years ago.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer NRL enforcer and Fijian international Kane Evans has come out as gay.Nine<\/p>\n

Evans, who rose to prominence as a hard-hitting Roosters forward in 2014, said denying his sexuality from the age of 15 had weighed on him so much that, once his NRL and Super League career ended, he made taking his own life a personal goal as he spiralled into addiction.<\/p>\n

Instances where people knew of his sexuality and threatened to \u201cblackmail me\u201d and \u201cout me\u201d also took their toll before the Rugby League Players Association helped get him into a rehabilitation facility and turn his life around.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had three goals in life,\u201d Evans told Channel Nine\u2019s James Bracey as he detailed his mental health struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it was; to play NRL. To buy my parents a house, and then I wanted to top myself, because I was living in denial from a young age.<\/p>\n

\"KaneKane Evans during his time at the Roosters in 2015.Andrew Murray<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that. 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

Asked how it felt to say that out loud, Evans replied: \u201cI still can\u2019t believe that I\u2019m here talking to you.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is definitely my worst nightmare. But I know if I surrender, its just going to be a 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 [conversation].<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I know that there\u2019s people who are struggling with the same struggle that 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans\u2019 decision to come out publicly follows a stint in rehabilitation and more than four months of sobriety, which he celebrated on social media in May.<\/p>\n

The help of former Panthers premiership-winner Joe Galuvao, now manager with the RLPA\u2019s past players and transition program, proved pivotal in Evans\u2019 turnaround as Galuvao tracked him down while he was sleeping rough in Sydney parks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started questioning; \u2018Maybe death isn\u2019t the plan for me yet. Maybe I do deserve to go and get help\u2019,\u201d Evans said after Galuvao had told him he deserved a \u201cgood life\u201d.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cEven over the years when I\u2019ve tried to go down that path [of coming out on my own terms], I\u2019ve had people blackmail me. I\u2019ve had people try to throw me under the bus, I\u2019ve had people try to deflect their problems by trying to out me. And it just built up a lot of shame, and fear and guilt within myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019ve spoken about it, I\u2019ve shattered all those chains. They\u2019ve lost their power. I feel like coming and speaking to you today, fear, shame, guilt \u2013 all of that, I\u2019ve cut ties with all that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel peace within, and I feel like a weight has lifted off my shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KaneKane Evans before a Roosters match in 2017.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Evans also paid tribute to Roosters coach Trent Robinson, who handed him his NRL debut before a 131-game NRL career that also included stints with the Eels and Warriors and 13 Tests for Fiji.<\/p>\n

On a guided tour of the Roosters\u2019 Moore Park headquarters recently as he began to get his life back on track, Robinson told Evans he had organised for the club to help finance part of his mental health treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomehow Robbo got my number,\u201d Evans said. \u201cHe called me just to let me know [that] the Roosters is still my home, and that they\u2019ve got my back in whatever I\u2019m facing \u2026 And Robbo, out of his own money, paid four weeks of my rent, because I had just got into a place that week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans said he had not truly processed the significance of his coming out, in an Australian sporting landscape where only a handful of male athletes have done so. He said the most important and rewarding conversation would come with his parents \u2013 his father Peter Davies played 13 first-grade games<\/a> in the late-1980s \u2013 between his interview being conducted and airing on national television.<\/p>\n

\"KaneKane Evans in action for Parramatta against South Sydney in 2020.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI love my mum and dad so much,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they know. But I need to tell them. It has to come from my mouth.<\/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\u2019ll 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, and nothing will stop me after that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very blessed that I\u2019m facing my fears. I know some people that have done some gangster things, but I feel like this is up there. I\u2019m a bit proud of myself and when I look in the mirror, I\u2019m going to smile now, not have those bad thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you are worried about your own or someone else\u2019s mental health, you can contact the Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511 or Lifeline on 13 11 14<\/p>\n

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\"DanDan Walsh<\/a> is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-723380","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\/723380","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=723380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}