Wally Lewis

Walter James "Wally" Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who was one of the most pre-eminent five-eighths of the 1980s.^{[citation needed]} He has since become a newsreader for the Australian Nine Network.

Nicknamed The King and also The Emperor of Lang Park,^[3] Lewis represented Queensland in thirty-one State of Origin games from 1980 to 1991, and was captain for thirty of them. He also represented Australia in thirty-three international matches from 1981 to 1991 and was national team captain from 1984 to 1989. Lewis is perhaps best known for his State of Origin performances, spearheading Queensland's dominance in that competition throughout the 1980s. He has a record eight man of the match awards in Origin football and captained the side a record thirty times.

Lewis has since been inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame and in 1999 he became the sixth member of 'The Immortals'. In 2000, he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.^[4]

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Football career

BRL and England

In his school days, Wally Lewis played representative rugby union. After switching to league he played in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership with Brisbane Valleys from 1978-83, also making his debuts for Queensland and Australia during that time. He toured Great Britain with the 1982 "Invincibles" as vice-captain. Lewis played for English First Division side Wakefield Trinity for a short spell in 1983/84 and he remains a favourite of Trinity fans, who named their fanzine Wally Lewis is Coming. Trinity won 5 of 10 games during Lewis's stay, including a win over St.Helens in which Lewis scored a hat-trick. After his final match on 12 February Trinity did not win another game and were relegated to the second division. He then moved to Wynnum-Manly where he played from 1984 to 1987. In 1985, Lewis won the inaugural Rugby League Golden Boot Award for best international player in the world. In 1987 he was honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia "for service to rugby league football".

Brisbane Broncos

Several New South Wales Rugby League premiership clubs attempted to lure Wally Lewis south during the 1980s, including Manly-Warringah which came closest to contracting him in 1986, but he signed with the Brisbane Broncos as inaugural captain of the side on their inception in 1988. Lewis was the Broncos' top try-scorer in their first season.

Two seasons later, in order to increase the Brisbane club's success in the Winfield Cup, Broncos coach Wayne Bennett controversially sacked Lewis as club captain and gave the role to centre, Gene Miles. Miles had retired from representative football, and Bennett hoped he could remove the team's reliance on Lewis. In another blow for the King, Lewis was moved from his favoured five-eighth position to lock to make way for new Canberra signing and Ipswich product Kevin Walters. Controversy reared in the 1990 semi-final victory over Manly-Warringah when Bennett left Lewis on the bench, even though Lewis was desperate to prove his fitness before the upcoming Kangaroo Tour, which he was eventually ruled out of.^{[citation needed]}

Gold Coast Seagulls and Coaching

In 1991, Lewis joined the Gold Coast Seagulls. He played both his last test match and his last State of Origin match that year. He captained and coached Gold Coast for two seasons in 1991 and 1992 but finished both seasons in last place. The following year he stopped playing but continued coaching the Seagulls, but departed after a third consecutive wooden spoon.

Lewis later coached the Queensland State of Origin side in 1993 and 1994 but never won a series.

Legacy

WALLY LEWIS
The Emperor of Lang Park

This honour was bestowed upon Wally Lewis by the former Chairman of the Queensland Rugby League, Senator and acclaimed father of state of Origin, the late Ron McAullife, in recognition of the impact Wally had on matches played at this ground across three decades.
Lewis is arguably the greatest rugby league player of all time. He is one of only a handful of players to be named a Rugby League Immortal and was one of the six inaugural members of the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame.
He achieved the greatest honour in Rugby League: the captaincy of his country, but it was his feats as Queensland skipper and playmaker in State of Origin that he achieved legendary status. He played 31 Origin games (30 as captain) and a record 8 Man of the Match awards over a 12-year period.
The name Wally Lewis is synonymous with State of Origin and Queensland Rugby League and continues to be an inspiration to future generations of footballers.

The Wally Lewis Medal has been awarded to the Queensland player of the series in State of Origin from 1992 to 2003. Since 2004, it has been awarded to the player of the series from either side.

Quotes

• "...he’s the only bloke who dominated the game at the highest level, in State of Origin, over a long period." Ray Warren^[3]

Post-football career

Following his retirement from the sport, Lewis became a sports presenter for Channel Nine's National Nine News in his home town of Brisbane.

During the nightly news broadcast of 16 November 2006, Lewis previewed the sports segment but was not onscreen when the program returned from the commercial break, with newsreader Bruce Paige instead presenting the sports segment. A similar event occurred two weeks later, on 30 November, when Lewis appeared onscreen and began to read the autocue, saying "Good evening" before seeming distressed. A scheduled report was then played, with Paige delivering the rest of the bulletin. Following these events, Lewis was given medical leave for the rest of the year.^[5] The following night, Lewis revealed that he suffered from epilepsy. It is as yet unknown whether his on-air disorientation was caused by the condition.^[6]

However, it is still not known when Lewis will return as sports presenter, as he is due to have tests and treatment for epilepsy after years of hiding his condition from his family.^[7]

Lewis was not expected to make a return as a TV reporter until January 29 but delivered a flawless report alongside new sports presenter Steve Haddan.^{[citation needed]}

Lewis is quoted as saying that "People come and ask me now about things (from his rugby league career) and I just don't remember them at all – that's absolutely frightening."^[3]

Lewis said he wanted to work with epilepsy organisations and raise awareness about the condition.^[3] He is also the vice patron of the Hear and Say Centre,^[8] becoming involved with the charity organisation after his daughter, Jamie-Lee, was born profoundly deaf.^{[citation needed]}

On 21 February 2007, Lewis underwent brain surgery to help his epilepsy at Austin Hospital in Melbourne. The surgery was reported as a success by Gavin Fabinyi, Director of Neurosurgery.^[9]

Wally's son, Lincoln Lewis, recently started as a full time actor on the Channel Seven drama, Home and Away.

References