Lost and found: King’s tears and his iconic 1980 Queensland jersey to inspire Maroons miracle

He thought it was gone forever, but Wally Lewis has shed tears at the discovery of his first State of Origin jersey, which will be the last thing Queensland players see before they go into battle in Sydney.

Wally Lewis with his ‘lost’ 1980 Queensland Maroons jersey.

He thought it was gone forever, but Wally Lewis has shed tears at the discovery of his first State of Origin jersey, which will be the last thing Queensland players see before they go into battle in Sydney.

If ever there was a case to remind Olympics planners not to forget to install a Hall of Fame for precious memorabilia in the new Victoria Park precinct it is the story of the King’s lost (and found) jersey from the fabled first State of Origin match at Suncorp Stadium 45 years ago.

Wife Lynda was with Wally when they nervously sifted through “bag by bag, container by container’’ of a storage unit and were shattered when the iconic jersey could not be found.

Then came the magical moment.

A cardboard box which had ‘rent-a-clothes’ on it carried a see-through zip-locked bag containing a maroon jersey.

Wally 'The King' Lewis with his 1980 Maroons jersey.

“I handed it to him and when he opened it it had the jersey in it,’’ said Lynda. “We both got goosebumps and burst into tears.’’

Straight out of mothballs, the jersey will take centre stage in Sydney where Lewis will be part of a guard of honour of 17 players from the original State of Origin match played 45 years ago as the current teams run out.

“I could see where a little emblem which was once on it had come off and there was a little bit of dirt on the jersey,’’ Lewis said. “I was very relieved when I found it.’’

Just to make sure the jersey made it to Sydney, Wally and Lynda took it on as carry on luggage rather than risk putting it in a suitcase and he had it in the cab with him when we spoke.

Wally Lewis (L) with Arthur Beetson (R) after the famous victory at Lang Park.

“The early call was for all of us to wear our jerseys onto the field in the guard of honour but a few of us said, ‘you are kidding … have you seen how fat we are?’”

Lewis is keen to eventually hand over his private collection for display as a way of giving back to fans and Suncorp Stadium have already shown interest.

Lewis’ mother June, a Queensland representative netball player, has been a star performer in the collection stakes.

“I think she even has my Queensland primary schools jersey from 1971.’’

Lewis will be there first hand to watch one of his favourite players, Cam Munster, lead the Maroons just three days after the death of his father Steven.

A few weeks ago on stage Lewis looked Munster in the eye and said, “he is as good as any footballer I have seen”.

If Munster can plough through the grief of the past few days and shine for Queensland, Wednesday may be the moment when he proves that point.