Benjamin Tapuloa Roberts (born 8 July 1985) is a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who last played as a or for the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have compete ...

( Heritage № 955) in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

. He is a former

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and Samoan international.

Background

Roberts was born in Westmead,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. He is of Samoan and

descent and is the cousin of soccer players

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his a ...

and Chris Cahill. Roberts was educated at John Therry Catholic High School, Rosemeadow. He then studied at

Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield , motto_translation = Mary Leads Us , location = Fairfield, south-western Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Sydney , pushpin_image = , pushpin_mapsize ...

, alongside former Sharks centre

Dean Collis Dean Collis (born 21 October 1985 in Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Camden Rams in the Group 6 Rugby League Competition, primarily as a . Career C ...

where he represented 2003 Australian Schoolboys.

Playing career

Joining the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...

in 2006 as a five-eighth, Roberts was originally recruited from

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

before became a regular member of the

NSWRL Premier League The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

team. In 2007, he has started in halfback in the early rounds due to injury to regular playmaker

Brent Sherwin Brent Sherwin (born 20 March 1978) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. Sherwin plays in the Illawarra Carlton League which is an indirect feeder league to the St George Illawarra Dragons. He plays as a half-back. Sherw ...

. With Sherwin's return from injury and form, Roberts was shifted to . He made his second international appearance for the

New Zealand Kiwis The New Zealand national rugby league team ( Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

on Friday 20 April at the 2007 ANZAC Test against the

Australia national rugby league team The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. In February 2008, Roberts was arrested by police who were forced to use capsicum spray on the player after an altercation outside the Glasshouse Tavern in Wollongong. He was later fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to assaulting police and resisting arrest. In the

2008 NRL season The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, National Rugby League teams, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstr ...

, Robert played 21 games for Canterbury as the club finished bottom of the table and claimed the wooden spoon. The season was also a sour one off the field with star player

Sonny Bill Williams Sonny Bill Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player and as of recently is working for Stan Sports. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in ...

walking out on the team. He was named in the

and Samoan extended training squads for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its 1954 Rugby League World Cup, inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 Rugby League World Cup, 2000 tournament. The tournament was held ...

. In the end he was selected in the Samoan squad for the tournament. Five years later he was selected for Samoa in April 2013, for a

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its eleva ...

. Later in the year he was selected for Samoa again, but this time for their

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's Festival of World ...

campaign. He featured in all four games that the Samoans played, scoring two tries. He scored one try against heavyweights

in an entertaining 42–24 defeat. He scored his second try in Samoa's 38–4 thrashing of The Kumuls. On 17 May 2011 Roberts signed a two-year deal with the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

. Roberts was a member of the Parramatta sides which finished last in 2012 and 2013. On 23 January 2014, it was announced he had signed on with the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

for the 2014 season. In round 1 of the 2014 NRL season, Roberts made his début for the Storm against the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. On 7 October 2014, Roberts was selected in the Samoan 24 man squad for the 2014 Four Nations series.

Super League career

On 7 July 2014, it was announced that Roberts signed a contract to play for the

club the

in 2015. He played his first Super League game against the Catalans Dragons in the second round of the season. He scored his first Super League try against the Warrington Wolves in round 9. Roberts scored in Castleford's opening home fixture against Wakefield in round 2 of the 2016 season. The following season, Roberts played in the

2017 Super League Grand Final The 2017 Super League Grand Final was the 20th official Grand Final championship-deciding game of the Super League XXII. It was held at Old Trafford, Manchester on 7 October 2017, kick off 18.00. Leeds Rhinos became champions for a record 8th ...

defeat by the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headin ...

at Old Trafford.

References

External links

Castleford Tigers profileCas Tigers profileBulldogs profilePlayers to watch – Ben Roberts (Samoa)SL profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Ben 1985 births Living people Australian people of New Zealand descent Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Castleford Tigers players Melbourne Storm players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Parramatta Eels players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Sydney Samoa national rugby league team players