'There are kids in the suburbs killing themselves' - Gay footy icon's emotional plea to Israel Folau

NRL star Ian Roberts has made an emotional plea to Israel Folau following his homophobic posts to social media last month.

Roberts, who is openly gay, begged Folau to consider the impact of expressing some of his religious beliefs in public on vulnerable teenagers, in an emotional plea on Nine's Sports Sunday programme.

"There are literally kids in the suburbs killing themselves," he said. "I say that with the greatest sense of respect, and I'm not saying that Israel is responsible solely for that ... but it's these types of comments and these types of off-the-cuff remarks when you have young people and vulnerable people who are dealing with their sexuality, confused, not knowing how to deal with it.

"These types of remarks can and do push people over the edge."

Roberts also said "freedom of religion" doesn't allow people to have the freedom to vilify.  

Folau's future remains no clearer after his landmark code of conduct hearing was forced into a third day following a weekend stalemate at Rugby Australia headquarters in Sydney.