Wally Lewis

For the rugby union player, see Wally Lewis (rugby union). For the singer, see Wally Lewis (singer).

Wally Lewis
AM
Lewis in 2009
Personal information
Full nameWalter James Lewis
Born (1959-12-01) 1 December 1959 (age 64)
Hawthorne, Queensland, Australia
Playing information
Height182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight95 kg (14 st 13 lb)
PositionFive-eighth, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1978–83 Fortitude Valley 111 71 11 4 249
1983–84 Wakefield Trinity 10 6 0 0 24
1984–87 Wynnum-Manly 55 26 9 2 124
1988–90 Brisbane Broncos 46 20 11 0 102
1991–92 Gold Coast 34 6 3 0 30
Total 256 129 34 6 529
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1979–87 Brisbane 5 5 0 27
1979–91 Queensland 38 10 2 2 44
1981 South Queensland 1 1 1 0 5
1981–91 Australia 34 11 0 2 45
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
1986–87 Wynnum-Manly 32 25 1 7 78
1992–93 Gold Coast 44 7 1 36 16
Total 76 32 2 43 42
Representative
Years Team Gms W D L W%
1993–94 Queensland 6 2 0 4 33
Source: [1][2][3]

Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sport. A highly decorated Australian national captain, Lewis is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever players of rugby league.[4][5] His time as a player and coach was followed by a career as a sports presenter for the Nine Network.

Nicknamed The King and also The Emperor of Lang Park,[6] 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 and winning a record 8 man of the match awards.

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.[7]

In February 2008, Lewis was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.[8][9] Lewis went on to be named in the halves in the Kangaroos' Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players.[10][11] In June 2008, he was also chosen in the Queensland Rugby League's Team of the Century at five-eighth and captain.[12] In October 2016, he became the 38th Legend of Australian Sport at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame awards.[13]

In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, Wally Lewis was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for his role as a "sports legend".[14]

In 2011, Lewis was a recipient of the Queensland Greats Awards.[15]

  1. ^ Rugby League Project
  2. ^ "Rugby League Project Coaches". Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  3. ^ Walter, Brad (3 August 2005). "Let Joey go for the good of the game". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  4. ^ Crawford, Sarah (13 December 2009). "King Wally upstages even Santa". Sunshine Coast Daily. APN News & Media Ltd. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  5. ^ Tsitouris, Helen (21 July 2007). "Wally Lewis's waiting game". The Sunday Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  6. ^ Strutt, Sam (11 January 2007). "Can surgery save Wally Lewis?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  7. ^ "Wally Lewis". Australian Honours Database. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  8. ^ "Centenary of Rugby League – The Players". NRL & ARL. 23 February 2008. Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
  9. ^ Cassidy, Peter (23 February 2008). "Controversy reigns as NRL releases top 100 players". Macquarie National News. Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
  10. ^ Balym, Todd (17 April 2008). "Johns, Meninga among Immortals". Fox Sports Australia. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
  11. ^ "Team of the Century Announced". NRL & ARL. 17 April 2008. Archived from the original on 21 May 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
  12. ^ Ricketts, Steve (10 June 2008). "Locky named No.1 but Wal's still King". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 2 July 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
  13. ^ "King Wally becomes a Legend as Michelle Payne rides off with the 'The Don'". Sport Australia Hall of Fame website. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  14. ^ Bligh, Anna (10 June 2009). "Premier Unveils Queensland's 150 Icons". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  15. ^ "2011 Queensland Greats recipients". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.