'Giant of journalism', NRL Hall of Fame inductee dies
One of rugby league's greatest storytellers has died. He is being remembered as a "gentleman" and an "icon" as the game mourns.
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
Highly-respected former rugby league journalist Ian Heads has died, only months after being inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame.
In a career spanning nearly half a century, Heads, who was 81, covered a myriad of sports - but his favourite was rugby league.
He began his journalistic career as a copy boy at The Daily Telegraph in the early 1960s before becoming editor of Rugby League Week magazine for many years.
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He wrote over 40 books - mostly about the game's history - and attended countless Olympic Games.
The NRL paid tribute to his wonderful career by inducting him into the Hall of Fame alongside the game's greatest players midway through last year.
At the time, NRL boss Peter Vlandys said: "Ian Heads was one of the game's great storytellers. He was a giant in journalism and a gentleman."
"He has always been highly respected for his knowledge of the sport and for his dignified coverage of the game.
"He authored over 40 rugby league biographies and histories and covered the game over five decades.
"His knowledge of the game and his service to the game as a great writer and storyteller will now always be permanently acknowledged in the NRL Hall of Fame."
On a personal note, Ian Heads was one of my first bosses as a young wet-behind-the-ears reporter and taught me lessons that I have never forgot.
A great man and an icon of rugby league journalism. RIP.
