Gay rugby team, Sydney Convicts, makes offer to Kane Evans as praise pours in for brave NRL star

The Sydney Convicts have already reached out to Evans, and club president James Moorey said the team is ready to embrace him should the 34-year-old wish to play.

Evans, who has previously played in rugby union tournaments, revealed on Monday that he is gay, becoming the first NRL player since Ian Roberts, 31 years ago, to come out.

“What I’ve done on behalf of the club is to reach out to Kane and offer support and words to recognise the bravery that he’s shown in doing what he’s done,” Moorey said.

“It’s a lot for the code, but I think it also just highlights how far we’ve got to go and why clubs like ours exist in all honesty.

“While we’ve made progress and it’s good to see people in the AFL and what have you come out in that space, we haven’t had someone for 31 years, there’s a long way to go.

“But we’ve just extended the arm of friendship and support to him and hopefully we hear back from him and in time, when he’s ready, we can have a chat.”

Moorey would love for Evans to play for the Convicts if he wants.

“The door is always open, and I understand a couple of the boys in our team already know him and have tried to get him to come down,” Moorey said.

“Maybe while this process has been ongoing for him, the door’s absolutely always open to anyone. But it’d be great to see him come down and have a run out.”

Moorey hopes that Evans’ revelation sparks others who are going through a similar battle to speak up. Evans revealed he experienced substance abuse and homelessness as he sought to hide his homosexuality.

“He said in the interview that he knew he was gay at 15, and he’s 34 now, so for the best part of 20 years, he’s hidden a huge part of him,” Moorey said.

“When you go through that, it’s hugely tiresome. And he’s obviously gone through issues of abuse.

“And we as a club as well, players come to us of all ages, we get some people 18, 20, early university age, and we also get players that join in their 40s that have never found a home in sport because they felt being gay meant that they were ostracised.

“That’s why our club exists, to provide a safe space for anyone who wants to play rugby, to come down and to help. And we also have a pathways program where people that have never played rugby before learn this at a grassroots level.

“More than anything, it’s incredible bravery from him, in what is a pretty tough environment.

“In the NRL, no one for 31 years has followed in Ian Robert’s footsteps. And I think it’s incredible what he’s done.

“I think not just in NRL. Obviously (Mitch Brown) the gentleman in AFL that came out as bi last year. There’s work to do in every sport.

“I hope it does encourage more people to be brave.

“I reflect, at the exact same time, you’ve got Jai Arrow with MND, and the absolute horror that he’s going through, the way that the community has been around him. I hope to see very similar response for Kane.

“I saw (Roosters coach) Trent Robinson’s reached out to him and helped him, and said the Roosters is always his home. That’s exactly what you want to see around these boys, and show them that it’s OK.”

‘SHOULDN’T HAVE TO HIDE’: EVANS’ FORMER TEAMMATES PRAISE BRAVERY

By David Riccio, Peter Badel, Fatima Kdouh

NSW enforcer Addin Fonua-Blake says NRL players should not have to hide their identity after his former Warriors teammate Kane Evans revealed a two-decade long battle with his sexuality.

Sydney Roosters Origin stars Lindsay Collins and Victor Radley, who played alongside Evans at the Bondi club in 2017, also praised his courage after coming as gay in an emotional interview with Channel 9’s James Bracey on Monday night.

The 34-year old said years of denying his true identity had led him down a dangerous spiral of addiction, suicide ideation and homelessness.

Fonua-Blake, who also played alongside Evan for the Warriors in 2021, said he was proud of his former teammate for becoming the first high-profile NRL star to come out as gay since Blues forward Ian Roberts in 1995.

“I’ve played a lot of footy with Kane and I grew-up with him at Mascot Juniors,” Fonua-Blake said on the first day of Blues camp in Sydney ahead of Origin II on June 17.

“He was three or four-years older than me, I would play up in age with him.

“It’s very brave that he’s come out and said it and I’m sending him by best wishes.

“I feel for him.

“Obviously he had to carry that burden throughout his NRL career and be someone that he wasn’t.

“It looks like he’s got a weight off his chest now and I feel for him that he couldn’t do it sooner.

“You shouldn’t have to hide who you are. Especially in today’s game.

“I’m proud of him for coming out. I’m just happy that he’s doing okay now and he’s got the right people around him.

“Looking back (at playing with him at the Warriors), I didn’t understand what he was going through.

“I’m sorry that he was in pain for so long.

Speaking from Queensland camp on the Sunshine Coast, Collins told this masthead that it took strength for a player remembered as a ‘big, strong man’ to publicly come out as gay.

“First and foremost, Kane is a great man and a great bloke. I’ve got a lot of respect for him,” Collins said,

“He’s a big, strong man but for him to come out with the situation that he’s had... but not even coming out but the build up to that.

“To put his hand up and realise he needed help, that takes a whole lot of strength as well.”

Evans made his NRL debut for the Roosters in 2014, playing 78 games at the Bondi club, and was there for Radley’s first game in Tricolours back in 2017.

“I don’t know too much about what’s gone on,” Radley said.

“Regardless of what goes on in his life, nothing will ever change the way I look at him.

“I got on like a house on fire with Kaneo, he’s such a good dude.

“He’s a legend of a bloke.

“I hope he’s well and doing OK.

“He’s the kind of bloke that always had a smile on his face and can light up the whole room.”

Collins remembers his time around Evans at the Roosters fondly as well.

“The one thing that I always remember about Kane is that he always knew everyone’s birthday,” Collins said.

“Every year, yeah. He knew whose birthday it was before anyone else, and he was the first one to say, ‘happy birthday’.

“That’s the nature of the man.”

Evans spent four seasons at the Roosters before joining Parramatta in 2018 and finishing his time in the NRL with a one-year stint with the Warriors in 2021.

Fighting what Evans described ‘a war within’ since his teens over his sexuality, he said his move to New Zealand only left him feeling more lost.

His battle with drinking then worsened during his two years in England playing for Hull FC.

A failed business venture post his NRL career left Evans $50,000 in debt and forced him into sleeping rough in Sydney parks.

Collins said it was a shock to hear Evans had fallen on such hard times.

“It would shock you if any NRL player becomes homeless,” Collins said.

“But sometimes it’s a reality. It’s an eye-opener, the whole financial side of things. As a player you give so much to the game, at the end of it you have to make sure you are on top of things and you are looking after yourself.

“That transition is so important, you can become a little bit lost.

“Obviously, I’m not speaking from experience but putting yourself in those shoes... you know footy and that’s all you’ve known.

“Then all of a sudden it is all over. I think making that transition seamless as possible is so important.”

Former Penrith premiership winner Joe Galuvao, who is now the RLPA’s past players and transition program manager, has played a crucial role in helping Evans get his life back on track.

More Coverage

‘In tears’: Ian Roberts’ emotional response to ex-NRL star coming out

Peter Badel

‘I know I’m gay’: Ex-NRL hit man comes out in emotional interview

Brent Read, Michael Carayannis

So has his former club, the Roosters, who are helping to fund his mental health treatment.

While coach Trent Robinson, who handed Evans his NRL debut, generously paid for a month’s rent.

“It’s a credit to him and it looks like he is on the right track. I know the Roosters are helping him in that aspect as well and I wish nothing but the best for him,” Collins said.

Originally published as Gay rugby team, Sydney Convicts, makes offer to Kane Evans as praise pours in for brave NRL star