Ian Roberts

Referee Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Saturday, 31st July, 1965
Current Age
58 years and 242 days
Place Of Birth
London, Greater London, England

Awards & Accolades

Dally M Prop Of The Year
1987, 1993, 1994
Ken Stephen Medal
1994

Biography

English-born Souths junior showed promise in his early career as a forward but had to overcome a series of injuries to reach his full potential in the Test arena. Despite not having played for either NSW or Australia, and with only a lower grade premiership to his credit (1986), Roberts signed a huge contract with Manly in 1990 and quickly justified his value with State of Origin selection and a Test debut against NZ. Hopes for Kangaroo selection that year were shattered when he suffered a serious groin tear in Manly’s semi-final match against Brisbane. Roberts returned in 1991 to play in three Tests against NZ (two as a reserve) and tour Papua New Guinea at season's end. 1993 was disappointing in comparison but he returned to the Australian Test team in 1994 (after being cleared of a questionable tackle on Jason Smith in NSW's State of Origin success), to score two tries against France at P’matta Stadium. In 1994 Roberts finally made a Kangaroo Tour, leading the way up front in Australia's Ashes-winning 24-3 Third Test victory at Elland Road. After being courted by the ARL, Roberts signed with Super League despite the fact that his club, and coach Bob Fulton, remained loyal to the game's controlling body. He sat out Manly’s premiership-winning season because of injury and the protracted Super League dispute, at which time he became the first league player to openly declare his homosexuality. Joining the Nth Queensland North Queensland for 1997’s Super League season, his career wound down in 1998 under the increasing weight of injuries. After his retirement, Roberts joined NIDA to pursue an acting career and served on the NRL Judiciary in 2001. Autobiography: Finding Out (1997).
- ALAN WHITICKER

Referee Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

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Your Say

  • Anonymous
    16/08/2016

    met him once couldnt have been any nicer very easy to talk to.

  • David
    25/06/2017

    A great player,a real enforcer for manly .

  • Anonymous
    24/08/2018

    the best south sydney prop I have seen, been watching league for 50 years and he revolutised front row play with his incredible work rate in attack and defence and speed for a front rower.

    regards
    John Philpott

  • Dan Clarke
    02/03/2021

    champion player, champion heart, champion human

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Paul Carter, Greg Fiveash, AJ Lucantonio, Terry Liberopoulos, Alan Katzmann, Max Turner, Steven Russo, Bill Bates

Sources: NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1989-90, Match Video, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1987-88, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1988-89, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1994, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1995, Irvin Saxton's Record Keepers' Club, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1987-88, Newspapers