Lewis’s NRL grit from Pop, not Wally

WITH Lachlan Lewis’s gene pool, uncompromising toughness and composure under pressure was never going to be in question.

But not quite how you might expect. The 22-year-old nephew of King Wally – arguably Queensland’s greatest ever rugby league star – was bred for brilliance not by his uncle, but by the Immortal’s own father in Lachlan’s pop Jim. Him, and truck tyres. Because when little man Lewis repeatedly brought down Brisbane big man Tevita Panagai Jr with ease on Thursday night in just his sixth NRL game, no-one should have been surprised.

He’s been training for it with his grandfather Jim – who played first grade in Brisbane and coached Wynnum Manly – since he was five years old.

“When we were really little we didn’t have too much money so we used to roll out inflatable tyres,” Lewis explained. “The inner ring, and you’d have to tackle with your head in the right spot. I owe a lot to that.

“And just mental toughness and (being) willing to put my body on the line I guess.

“That was instilled in me at a young age.”

It almost verges on madness when you consider that at age five, those tyres would’ve been coming up to Lewis’ head.

Impressive in his first five showings for the Bulldogs, Thursday’s win over the Broncos was his coming of age.

He set up two tries in the win, proving himself to be the silver lining in what’s been an otherwise disastrous year for Canterbury.