Ellia Green Finds His Power Again On The Rugby Field
Four years after stepping away from professional sport, Ellia Green is back in the game, playing as the man he’s always known himself to be.
Now 32, Ellia is suiting up for the Sydney Convicts, an inclusive rugby club competing in the men’s New South Wales Suburban Rugby competition. For someone who once stood on the Olympic podium, you’d think nothing else could compare. But for Ellia, running onto the field as his true self comes pretty close.
From Olympic glory to personal chaos…
Ellia’s career peaked at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He played for Australia in the Women’s Rugby Sevens and scored a key try in the gold medal match against New Zealand. Childhood dreams don’t get much bigger.
“It was everything I had dreamed about as a child,” he told A Current Affair. “I’d written on my wall in primary school that I’d be an Olympian one day.”
But after Rio, things shifted. He missed selection for Tokyo. His mum, who had been seriously ill, passed away. Then came retirement from Rugby Sevens in 2021, with Ellia still holding the record for most tries (141) and points (739). Publicly, it looked like success. Privately, it was a mess.
Transition, family, and finding space to breathe.
Leaving elite sport gave Ellia room to put himself first. He began his gender transition and came out as a trans man in 2022 during the Bingham Cup, the international gay rugby tournament often referred to as the World Cup of inclusive rugby.
“It was the beginning of me being unapologetically myself,” he said. “Life’s too short to live it as something else.”
That same year, Ellia and his partner, lawyer and activist Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, welcomed their daughter, Waitui. Becoming a dad changed everything.
“I went from feeling like I’d lost everything to realising nothing else matters,” he shared. “I just kept asking myself, what kind of role model do I want to be for her?”
The Convicts call, and Ellia answers.
Earlier this year, a former coach reached out. The urge to play came flooding back. He wasn’t just ready — he was needed. Ellia joined the Sydney Convicts and now plays alongside a team that celebrates inclusion, resilience, and community.
His first match back was huge. “I was probably equally as nervous as I was before the Rio final,” he said. “But this time, it felt like I was reclaiming myself.”
While Olympic gold might sit on the shelf, the Convicts offer something harder to measure: freedom.
“It’s a very close second, if not on par,” he said. “I just hope anything I’ve shared can give someone hope — to know the greatest thing you can do is to love yourself and be proud of it.”
