The NRL superstar dropped by Winanga-Li Aboriginal Child and Family Centre on his way back from a day spent in the Pilliga. 

Roberts spent Tuesday night in Gunnedah before embarking on a trip to the little Pilliga village where he was enthusiastically welcomed by 80 locals.

He was joined by fellow NRL player, and cousin, Tyrone Roberts and recently retired former Penrith Panther and Gold Coast Titans player, Moree-born Brad Tighe.  

“Just having a day off and just thought I’d come visit the kids out west here in Gunnedah,” Roberts said.

“Out Pilliga there, we only had about 11 kids but it’s good to get out to the schools that don’t get much.”

The Broncos centre is expected to line up for his side on Friday night and is hopeful of notching up a win after a disappointing one point loss to the North Queensland Cowboys last week.

With the State of Origin clash on the horizon a number of Broncos players have headed into camp training, leaving a few gaps for coach Wayne Bennett to fill.

Roberts’ name had been tossed into the fray for a Blues jersey, and while disappointed he wasn’t included, he’s focussed on his club’s clash with the West Tigers at Suncorp Stadium.

“[We’ve] got the Tigers, should be good. We’re just coming off a close loss so it’ll be good to get back into the winners’ circle.

“We’ve got about four debutants so it’ll be good to see how they go and should be a good crowd as well,” he said.

Winanga-Li centre manager Wayne Griffiths said it was fantastic to have someone of Roberts’ ilk drop by.

“He flew out last night [from Brisbane] – bit spur of the moment. He had an invite from Brad Tighe, they’re good mates,” Griffiths said.

“He said ‘yeah, pencil me in’.

“They were extremely well received. Stopped in the school [at Pilliga] where there’s 11 kids but over 80 turned up to see them.

“They’ve never seen an NRL player before so it was a great event,” Griffiths said.

Roberts and company sat down and spoke to the kids about health and well-being, as well a bit of chatter about his rugby league career.

“It’s phenomenal for us to have him here in Gunnedah. It’s not every day of the week that someone like that takes the time to pop in.

“It’s fantastic – they’ve had a bit of a hard road growing up and come from the other side of the track and they were just telling kids that they can do anything,” Mr Griffiths said.