Norman Keith Roberts (28 January 1932 – 11 March 2015) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand in the

1960 World Cup The 1960 Rugby League World Cup was the third staging of the tournament and the first Rugby League World Cup to be held in Great Britain. The same format as used in 1957 was used, with a group stage leading to a final table. The 1960 World Cup ...

Playing career

Roberts played for Marist in the Canterbury Rugby League competition. He debuted for Canterbury in 1953 and the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

in 1954. In 1955 he was first selected for the New Zealand national rugby league team for a tour of Great Britain and France. He was chosen for New Zealand Māori in 1956 but withdrew due to injury. He moved to Papanui in 1957 and later became their player-coach. He captained Canterbury between 1958 and 1960.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. He was part of the Kiwis tours of Australia in 1956 and 1959 and in 1960 was part of the World Cup squad. He retired from representative football after the 1960 season having played in thirty five games for New Zealand, including thirteen test matches. Roberts continued to play for Papanui until he retired in 1962. He then coached Canterbury to a victory over Auckland in 1962. Roberts was later a player-coach in the New South Wales Country before returning to again coach Canterbury. He was later a New Zealand Schoolboys selector and coach. He died at Ohoka on 11 March 2015, aged 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Keith New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Canterbury rugby league team players South Island rugby league team players Rugby league halfbacks Marist-Western Suburbs players Papanui Tigers players New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand Māori rugby league players Canterbury rugby league team coaches 2015 deaths 1932 births