Wally Lewis is one of the most well-known rugby players Australia has ever made. This player has been making waves in Australia’s rugby scene ever since he was a teenager, thanks to his skill. He was soon picked for the national team, and he went on to lead the team. Under his leadership, the team won the tour of France and Great Britain, which helped them get the name “The Unbeatables.” Under Wally’s leadership as captain, the Kangaroos won most of their games by huge margins. He once asked for 30,000 Euros to play for a private club, which at the time was the most any player had ever been paid. Since then, this athlete has played for many different teams, including “Wynnum Mally” and “Brisbane Broncos.” This player has won a number of awards, including one called “Golden Boot.” In honor of his groundbreaking rugby performances, a statue of this well-known athlete has been put up at Lang Park, where he played many games. Even after he was done playing, the player wrote an autobiography that sports fans and other readers liked. Even now, he is still an inspiration for many young rugby players in his country.
Early years and childhood
Wally Lewis was born to Jimmy and June on December 1, 1959, in the Australian state of Queensland, in a place called Hawthorne.
His father was an athlete who played for the “Western Suburb Panthers,” also called “Wests,” and the “Souths Logan Magpies.” Lewis’s mother was a well-known netball player in her time. She even played for the Queensland team.
Wally was good at Rugby when he was young, just like his father. He even got a chance to play for the “Australian Schoolboys Team.” In 1977, he went on an international trip with the team to places like Japan and Europe.
Due to his league background, however, the “Queensland Rugby Union” turned him down for a chance to play in the main rugby league. In 1978, Lewis played for the team called “Valley’s Diehards” in the “Brisbane Rugby League Premiership” tournament.
Wally Lewis’s Career
When Wally played for the Queensland Maroons in the 1980 State of Origin tournament, he made a lot of noise in the Australian Rugby world. The best thing about this tournament was that the young player got to play with Arthur Beetson, who he looked up to as a player.
He made the Australian national team in 1981 because of how well he did in this competition. During his first game, which took place at the “Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG),” Australia beat France by a huge 43-3 score.
Wally was given the title of vice-captain for the 1982 tour of Great Britain and France the very next year. During this trip abroad, this Australian team went on to do well.
During the 1983-1984 “Rugby Football League Season,” he played for the Wakefield Trinity team in the first division. In his presence, the team won five of the ten games they played. He even scored a hat-trick in a game against the “St Helens Rugby Football Club,” which made him a fan favorite among Football fans.
This rugby player left “Wakefield Trinity” in 1984 and started playing for “Wynnum-Manly Seagulls.” In the same year, he was the captain of an Oceania rugby team that beat a French team 54–4 with his team’s help.
In 1986, Lewis was named captain and coach of the Wynnum-Manly team, which had stars like Gene Miles and Colin Scott on it. In the finals of the “BRL” tournament at Lang Park, he led his team to victory.
In the same year, he also helped Australia win the mid-season test series against New Zealand by beating them in all three games.
Next, Wally joined the “Brisbane Broncos” team in 1988, the same year it was formed. Under his leadership as captain, the team won its first game. But after only two seasons on the team, Wally was asked to leave by the team’s coach, Wayne Barnett.
After the fight with the “Brisbane Broncos,” Lewis went back to Sydney and joined the “Gold Coast Seagulls” team in 1991. He was put in charge of this team as both its captain and its coach. But in the 1992 “NSWRL” tournament, he was unable to bring back the old magic, and the team did not do well.
He stopped playing for this team after that, but he kept coaching them for many more games. Gold Coast Seagulls lost 37 of the 44 games they played while he was their coach.
This famous rugby player played his last game on November 7, 1992, against a team from South Australia. The game was held in Adelaide.
Honors and Accomplishments
During the “1982 State of Origin Series,” this great rugby player won his first man of the match award.
1984 was a big year in this athlete’s life, and he got a lot of attention because of it. In the “State of Origin series,” he won two “Man of the Match” awards, and he was also given the “Golden Boot Award” for being the “World’s Best International Player.”
Lewis won the man of the match award in one of the games in the 1985 State of Origin Series, even though his team lost the game. He was only the second person in the history of the game to get this honor.
In 2000, Wally was given the “Australian Sports Medal” for his work in the sports world.
Personal History and Legacies
Wally got married to a woman named Jacqueline. He had known her since he was a child. Lincoln, Mitchell, and Jamie-Lee are the couple’s three kids.
While their son Lincoln made a name for himself as an actor on TV, their daughter Jamie showed how good she was at water polo. Mitchell, who is his second son, works at an FM radio station.
This famous rugby player was diagnosed with Epilepsy and had to have surgery in February 2007 to get rid of it.
Lewis wrote a book about his life called “Out of the Shadows: A Champion’s Return to the Spotlight.” It came out in 2009.
In honor of his skill, a bronze statue of this rugby player has been put up at the Lang Park stadium in Brisbane.
Estimated Net worth
Wally Lewis’s estimated net worth is $10 million, and rugby league is his main source of income. We don’t know enough about Wally Lewis’s cars or his way of life.