Ian John Heads OAM (15 February 1943 – 25 March 2024) was an Australian historian, journalist, commentator and author.

After completing high school, he began work as a copy boy in the early 1960s for the Sydney Daily Telegraph, but soon rose through the ranks to become the main journalist covering rugby league for most of his long career.

He also contributed to other works in collaboration with David Middleton, Gary Lester, Norman Tasker and Geoff Armstrong.

[3]: 22–30/474 In his semi-autobiographical essay "The Accidental Sportswriter", Heads describes how, fathered by his uncles, Ken and Cecil Appleton, the seven-year-old was taken to the Sydney Cricket Ground to watch the deciding test match of the 1950 rugby league Ashes.

[3] In 1951, his uncle Cecil Appleton took his eight-year-old nephew to the Davis Cup, Australia versus America, when the Australian tennis player Frank Sedgman defeated Vic Seixas in the deciding match.

In 1970, he joined the newly established Rugby League Week, a successful magazine which at one stage sold 90,000 copies of each issue.

[5] Leading rugby league historian David Middleton told how he was among dozens of young journalists inspired and mentored by Heads over a long period.

[6] At the time of his death tributes abounded, acclaiming Ian Heads as the “doyen” of Australia sports journalism.

At a ceremony at the Sydney Cricket Ground and in the general press he was publicly praised by many noteworthy commentators for his gentlemanly demeanour and his unwavering commitment to journalistic integrity.

On 9 October 1999, Heads reported on a large-scale protest against the exclusion of South Sydney Rugby League Club from the upcoming season.

Despite the newsworthiness of the event, his story was ultimately censored by News Limited, the owner of the Sunday Telegraph, where he worked, and a major stakeholder in rugby league.

In protest against this censorship, Heads resigned from his position, demonstrating the value he put on unbiased and balanced reporting and the public's right to information.

--- Des Renford was an Australian athlete, who took up marathon swimming at the age of 39, and who swam the English Channel 19 times from 19 attempts.