Classic Sportswear Appoints Rugby League Great Steve “Blocker” Roach as Head of Player and Club Relations

Australian sportswear brand Classic Sportswear has announced the appointment of rugby league legend and Hall of Fame inductee Steve “Blocker” Roach to the newly created role of Head of Player and Club Relations.

The appointment reinforces the brand’s long-standing connection to professional rugby league, driving a new series of heritage initiatives, historical jersey campaigns, and welfare programs across the sport.

Classic Sportswear owner and former professional rugby league player, Warren Carney, highlighted the deep alignment between Roach’s career legacy and the brand’s cultural footprint within the sport.

“Every player remembers pulling on that jersey for the first time — what those colours meant, the blokes beside you, the memories that never leave you.”

“Blocker lived all of that at the very top, and there’s no one better to help us honour the game and the players who made it.

“Having him alongside us means everything,” Carney said. 

Expressing his enthusiasm for joining Classic Sportswear to reconnect fans with rugby league’s rich history while delivering practical support for former players, Roach, shared: “I’ve loved this game my whole life.”

“This is a chance to bring some of its greatest players and moments back to life — and to look after a few of the blokes who gave everything and have done it tough since. That’s what got me in,” Roach said.

Renowned across decades as a fierce front-row enforcer for the Balmain Tigers, New South Wales, and the Australian Kangaroos – Roach, brings deep institutional relationships across clubs, players, and governing bodies to his new corporate post.

In his remit, Roach will collaborate with past and present players and clubs to celebrate the sport’s history, revive iconic jersey moments for fans, and champion player welfare initiatives dedicated to supporting former athletes who have fallen on hard times.

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