State of Origin: How the daughters of Wally Lewis and Rohan Hancock are making their own history

Wally Lewis and Rohan Hancock made rugby league history when they played in the first State of Origin 40 years ago. Now their daughters, Jamie-Lee Lewis and Steph Hancock, are playing side-by-side, making their own history. Here’s their story.

They first met when they were just children, several years after their dads, Wally Lewis and Rohan Hancock, played for Queensland in the first State of Origin.

Now, after fangirling each other, Jamie-Lee Lewis and Steph Hancock have become best of friends, are Souths Logan teammates and hope to follow in their dads’s footsteps.

Here’s their story in their own words.

Steph Hancock and Jamie-Lee Lewis are Souths Logan teammates 40 years on from when their fathers, Rohan Hancock and Wally Lewis played State of Origin together. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

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Stephanie Hancock

38, police officer and rugby league player, Springfield Lakes

THE first time I remember meeting Jamie-Lee Lewis was when she was four and I was 12.

I went to a State of Origin match with my dad, Rohan Hancock, who played for Queensland in the first Origin 40 years ago.

He played in the forward pack alongside Wally Lewis, Jamie-Lee’s dad.

She was there with Wally and that would have been the first time we saw each other.

Fast forward 22 years and I was at my own State of Origin after party on the Gold Coast, after the Queensland women lost to NSW for the first time. I was the captain.

Jamie came to that party and I thought she was the world’s biggest snob because she didn’t really talk to me. It turns out she was just shy.

I ran into her a couple of more times and we just said “g’day” to each other but we didn’t make any sort of conversation until a bit later.

Wal told (ex-women’s player) Karyn Murphy that his daughter needed to get back into footy after she had done her knee in her first rugby league pre-season in 2017.

She had been with the West Brisbane Panthers and Murph said I should ring her and get her to come play at Souths Logan. I spoke to her at a 2018 pre-season get together. I told her to stop being a sooky bugger. I said that if we’re ever going to be like our dads and play Origin together, she needed to start playing football.

It was that conversation that started our friendship.

If only we had been game enough to talk to each other at that party in 2016, we would have been best mates for much longer.

It’s been special getting to play with her at Souths. About 80 per cent of our conversations are about football. She is such a determined bugger and I love playing with her.

To have your dads play together in the first ever State of Origin and to then get to play together all these years later, it’s pretty cool. And you never know, we might play Origin together too.

I’ve been fortunate to experience a lot in my career and I would love for Jamie-Lee to experience Origin, even if it’s not with me. It’s something you’ll never forget.

The 1980 Queensland State of Origin team with Wally Lewis (far left in the back row) and Rohan Hancock (third from the right, centre row).

Jamie-Lee Lewis

30, floor preparation worker and rugby league player, Tingalpa

I RECOGNISED Steph as soon as I saw her.

It was at the after party for her State of Origin game in 2016. I was star struck because I just loved watching her play. She said hello to me but she thought I was a snob because I didn’t say hello back to her.

What she didn’t realise was I was “fangirling”.

I am happy to say it only got better from there and she’s had a massive impact on my rugby league career.

When I met Steph, she had been an Australian Jillaroos player for 13 years. After being sidelined for two years with a knee injury, I was very unsure about whether I wanted to come back to the game or not and Steph was one of the major reasons why I returned.

And it’s not just with football where she has made an impact in my life, but with her friendship.

We have become the closest of friends. We love catching up, whether it’s over a coffee or to go fishing. She is an amazing human, she’s so supportive and she always has my back.

On the field, she is the team player that everyone has to have in their side. She is an amazing role model and a great mentor who inspires us to believe in ourselves. She has incredible knowledge of the game and can still kill it on or off the field.

I like that we have that connection with our dads too. Whenever we play footy, our dads love to catch up and chat about how footy and life is going and how us girls have been playing.

They’re just two “old men” who love coming to the game to watch their daughters.

I would love to play for Queensland one day, especially alongside Steph, just like our dads. I hope I can do so before she hangs up the boots but I’m also really determined to win a premiership with her. I’d love to be there doing my best to repay her for all of the help she has given me and many others.

What a way to finish that would be.

Originally published as State of Origin: How the daughters of Wally Lewis and Rohan Hancock are making their own history