{"id":893363,"date":"2026-09-15T22:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T22:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/893363\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T22:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T22:38:12","slug":"nrl-news-2026-the-mole-exclusive-ian-roberts-documentary-homophobia-from-ex-teammates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/893363\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2026: The Mole exclusive; Ian Roberts documentary, homophobia from ex-teammates"},"content":{"rendered":"

An upcoming movie-length documentary on the life of trailblazing ex-league player Ian Roberts<\/a> is set to shake the game to its foundations.<\/p>\n

Roberts, a former Australian Test prop, made global headlines midway through his career in 1995, when he came out of the closet and revealed he was gay.<\/p>\n

\"Rugby<\/p>\n

Ian Roberts.\u00a0Nine<\/p>\n

He was the first Australian sportsman to announce his homosexuality to the world.<\/p>\n

But the documentary, called Light, has unearthed previously unknown ramifications of his decision to go public, such as four players from his own club going to the ARL demanding Roberts not be selected for the Kangaroos.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was incredibly hard for Ian at that time,\u201d one source close to the production of the documentary told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers didn\u2019t want to share rooms with him, didn\u2019t want to shower with him. The fact that four players from his own club – I won\u2019t say which one – refused to go on an Australian tour with him, shows the level of hatred and homophobia he faced.\u201d<\/p>\n

The documentary is due for cinematic release early next year and will then be screened on the Nine Network and Stan.<\/p>\n

Heath Davis, the writer and director, is in awe of Roberts\u2019 courage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIan is a legend \u2013 a true Aussie icon and a hero. There won\u2019t be a dry eye in the house when people see what he went through,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an inspirational story that goes beyond football. What he did saved lives of young guys in similar situations to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people didn\u2019t want this project to happen, but I have to thank the NRL, they co-operated in every way and gave us full access to their archives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now aged 61, Roberts is a director of Qtopia, a museum of LGBTQ history and culture, and works as a part-time actor.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, former Roosters and Eels prop Kane Evans came out as gay in an emotional interview with Nine\u2019s 100% Footy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Homesick\u2019 enforcer eyeing NRL return<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be surprised if former Rabbitohs, Cowboys and Broncos prop Patrick Mago makes a return to the NRL in 2027.<\/p>\n

A barnstorming ball runner, Mago has played over 120 games for Wigan over the past five seasons, claiming two\u00a0Super League\u00a0titles and three Challenge Cups.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Patrick Mago during the 2024 World Club Challenge.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

But word from the Old Dart is that the Kiwi-born Mago is getting homesick and wants to return to the NRL next season.<\/p>\n

The veteran forward is off-contract but feels he has another year or two in him and at least two NRL clubs are keen on him.<\/p>\n

Players\u2019 ultimatum over unpopular coach<\/p>\n

Which member of an NRL club\u2019s coaching staff has rubbed a lot of players the wrong way?<\/p>\n

So much so that several players are saying if the coach stays for 2027, they will be on the move, or examining their options. Watch this space for developments.<\/p>\n

Dragons land speedy teen<\/p>\n

St George Illawarra have signed promising outside back Elliot Gunner for 2027.<\/p>\n

Gunner, who is equally at home at fullback, wing or centre, starred for Brisbane Tigers under 16s this year.<\/p>\n

The Broncos were keen to keep the speedy youngster in their development system but he and his manager thought the path to NRL level would be quicker at the Dragons.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An upcoming movie-length documentary on the life of trailblazing ex-league player Ian Roberts is set to shake the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":893364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-893363","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\/893363","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=893363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/893364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}