Those closest to Jordan Lewis reveal the man behind the fierce footballer ahead of game 300
JORDAN Lewis is a fierce competitor on the field, but off the field he’s a gentle and caring soul. Those who know him best reveal the real Lewis ahead of his 300th game.
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HE won four premierships with Hawthorn before joining Melbourne to extend his career.
Now, hard-nut Jordan Lewis plays his 300th career game. It is another feather in an already very decorated cap.
Those closest to Lewis speak to Herald Sun Chief Football Writer Mark Robinson and pay tribute ahead of the huge milestone.
THE BEST MATE
THEY met in 2001 at a Victorian Country basketball tournament, were drafted No.2 (Jarryd Roughead) No.5 (Lance Franklin) and No.7 (Lewis) in 2004 and the two of them would play 250 games together and win four premierships in a Hawthorn era which challenges as the best ever.
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They were best man at each other’s wedding and it was at Lewis’s wedding when Roughy said he loved him.
“I said that in my wedding speech,’’ Roughead said. “He got married October 10, 2014, and his twins were born on the same day three years later.’’
When cancer attacked Roughead, more specifically when it returned for a second time in May 2016, Roughead saw in Lewis a man of unwavering comfort and care.
Roughead called Lewis with the shock cancer news before he called his wife Sarah.
“That in a nutshell is enough said,” Roughead said.
“I couldn’t tell Sarah over the phone, I needed a game plan and I knew he’d pick up the phone.
“I got told at 4pm and I rang him and I said I needed him to come back to the footy club. As soon as we got to the footy club, we were in a room and we both broke down for 10 or 15 minutes. I didn’t know what to do and he didn’t either. But having him there was just enough for me.
“There were things he did when I was going through my s--- that I didn’t even know. One of the days when they had training and I had a treatment, he told the club he wasn’t going in and instead was going to sit with me for four hours.”
As a footballer, Roughy saw the first unflattering appearance of Lewis in their first pre-season.
Lewis had joked he worked at Pinkies Pizza in Warrnambool — with his sister Chelsea — from when he was 14 to 17 and loved to take home a large pizza after his shift.
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His favourite? An Aussie with BBQ sauce and garlic.
“Get his first three years of photos as an AFL player and compare to now, you’d think he’s had a vacuum shoved up his bum and it all got sucked out,” Roughead said.
Lewis is unsentimental, whereas Roughead is not. Lewis says he has moved on from Hawthorn, whereas Roughead holds on to their last game together.
“The last time I got to play with him was the ‘15 granny, so I’m pretty happy with that,” he said.
“Of course, from the draft you’d love to finish your careers at the one club, but I guess that’s where you understand the business of footy these days, too, which is s---.’’
THE MENTOR
TODD Viney was at the Hawks for Lewis’s first three seasons, as an assistant coach, and is at Melbourne, as list manager, for Lewis’s final years.
Lewis arrived for the 2005 seasons weighing 93kg and is now 85kg.
“Not many people reach 300 games,’’ Viney said. “It shows a real love of the game, you need resilience, you have to be a competitor and keep in physical condition.
“I had a conversation with him in his first year. I told him he was a good player, but he could be in this game for one year or 10 years and that it all depended how you look after your body.’’
His response?
“He’s always a good listener, but he gives you the steely glare. It was just one of those upfront conversations with a young guy. He was the boy from Warrnambool and they do like it the old-fashioned way, play the game hard and have a few drinks, but he really looked after himself which enabled him to play 300.”
There’s the Lewis body and there’s the Lewis IQ, Viney adds.
“In my experience playing (233 games at Melbourne) and in the coaching game, I think he’s in the top three players in terms of footy IQ.
“Sam Mitchell is another. Just his understanding of the game, spatial awareness and patterns of the game. Brett Lovett for us was also very astute.
“Jordan’s ability to see the game and communicate it was one of the reasons why I was open to him coming here — the on-field leadership and be able to communicate it.’’
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THE FAMILY
JORDAN Lewis is the only boy between two sisters — Monique 33 and Chelsea 29.
Mum Judy says Jordan, born April 29, 1986, was a big baby.
“He loved his food. He was a very good child, always had ball in his hand of some sort. He was never happy unless he was going somewhere. He was very social. Always wanted someone here to play with.
“But, yeah, he had a big boof head on him, he was a little chubba.”
A Warrnambool boy, he was typically country, playing all sports and excelling at basketball as a left-handed point guard.
“We travelled halfway around Australian with him and two girls with their sport,” Judy said.
Mum says her boy was a “loveable, very kind and an honest person”, but sometimes can’t reconcile the golden boy off the field with the ruffian on it.
“I have to say I still loved him, but I wished he hadn’t done it,’’ she said of his stoushes.
Draft day was at home, Judy says. Lewis had mates around who hunkered around the internet.
“We all thought he was going to Port Adelaide and then it said, “Jordan Lewis, Hawthorn”. The next thing the phone rings and it was Shane Crawford to congratulate him. That was on the Saturday and on the Sunday he was gone and he hasn’t come back.
“We don’t get to see enough of him. I’d like to see him more because I miss him so much. He’s a beautiful soul and he loves his sisters.’’
Chelsea said her older brother was always protective of his sisters.
“He was always one to offer advice to me on boys, such as it being totally acceptable to dump my boyfriend in Year 10 via text message, which mum wasn’t too happy about.
“He said he did it to girls all the time, so it was fine.
“Once early on, Jordan got wind that I was messaging one of the other young Hawthorn boys, so he rang me up and told me to immediately stop messaging him and to delete him from Facebook by the time he got home, as we were living together at the time.
“Also, he would pay me to do his homework and when we would kick the footy together out in the backyard, every time I kicked it over the fence he would make me do 10 push-ups.”
THE WIFE
LUCY and Jordan met in Byron Bay in 2007. Lucy was at a friend’s 21st and Lewis arrived at the same 21st with Hawthorn teammates — they were on their end-of-season trip.
“He was up there with Roughy and Buddy, he was wearing a fluorescent head band and it wasn’t even a dress-up night. It was pink, green and blue and I think Campbell Brown had them all in these flouro T-shirts as well.”
Lewis was keen to impress.
“We went to Cheeky Monkeys and they called last drinks and he said: “What’s your favourite number?” I said 36, so he turned around to the barman and ordered 36 Barcardi Breezers. He told me he had to ask Roughy and Buddy for money because he couldn’t afford it.”
She rode the highs and lows with her future husband. The flag in ‘08, the disappointment in ‘09, the Grand Final loss in 2012. Then the glory of the three-peat.
“It was unbelievable,” she said. “We moved into a new house after 2014 flag.”
They had Freddie in 2015 and the twins, Hughie and Ollie in 2017.
“Jordan hates cliches, but he’s a great father. He’s a homebody, really helpful, although he apologises for being selfish during the footy season.”
The trek from the fluorescent show-off footballer to devoted father of three brings a smile. “He’s soft and gentle,” Lucy says. “Before I met him, he had a hard outer shell. He still does because he’s always at the tribunal. But he’s just the kindest, softest man you will ever meet. As he’s getting older, he’s showing more of the softer side.”
Lewis jokes on his AFL360 segment that Lucy doesn’t always know of the fines he accrues. The second-last time — for misconduct against Collingwood’s Steele Sidebottom on Queen’s Birthday — he told Lucy five minutes before he left for the show.
The last time — for misconduct against Michael Walters in Round 16 — Lucy found out when she was watching the show.
“I was mortified,” she said.
She says she tries to be a calming influence.
“Before every single game Max Gawn picks him up. I walk him out to the car and I say be nice, be nice to the other players and ask them how their weekends have been.
He says: “I’ll try to cross that white line happy.”
THE EP
WHEN Brad Sewell departed AFL360 at the end of 2013, executive producer Tim Hodges, who is also from Warrnambool, saw in Lewis what other networks didn’t.
“I knew his reputation and that he wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but his stature in the game was growing so I took the punt,” Hodges said.
“His first year as a regular was his greatest as a player — his only All-Australian spot, a flag and a B&F — so anyone who says media isn’t good for a footballer should look at Jordan Lewis.
“Maybe it’s the country boy in him, but I love how much he loves his footy and I love that he treats 360 as a footy environment, like a little mini club.
“He doesn’t have to get in until his segment starts, but he’s always in before 7pm. He treats us all like teammates.
“He talks Demons with Sammy, he makes fun of Tommy, he talks motorsport with me, golf with Jack, footy with you and about the family with Gerard. And he always brings lollies in (mini Mars bars are his favourite). And he always gets a can of diet coke and takes one sip and that’s it — every single week.”
One of Hodge’s most memorable shows was the night Lewis broke down talking about his great mate Roughy.
“It was the most emotional moment in 360’s seven-year history. It was raw, honest and heart breaking. He got more and more emotional the more he spoke,” Hodges said.
“I still regret not taking an ad break after his segment because you and Gerard were both cooked for the rest of the first break. Roughy would’ve been proud as punch. I hope he was watching that night.”
THE KID
ANGUS Brayshaw was 15 and with “Uncle Al” Clarkson at Hawthorn on a visit when he first met Lewis. The next time was on Kingston Heath only weeks before Lewis departed the Hawks for the Demons.
“He remembered me from the first time,” Brayshaw said, clearly chuffed.
No Melbourne player has sucked the information out of Lewis more than Brayshaw.
“I’m not the quickest player and never really was and probably he wasn’t either, but he was always tough as nails. I remember thinking, every time he played he was hitting bodies or doing something tough. I always admired how tough he was.”
A four-time premiership player, Lewis was a daunting figure for some of his new teammates.
“If you look at Jordan Lewis the player he’s tough and mean and unsociable, but he’s actually a really thoughtful, insightful bloke. He just cares. He’s really bought in and invested.
“You can tell when some are in it for themselves and, conversely, you can also tell when someone’s genuine.
“He’s won four flags and maybe he would look down on us, but no, he’s welcoming. “Personally, I thought people were stand-offish early, were treading on eggshells around him because he was in a different realm. But we made a real connection. I’m a better player for knowing him.
“I could talk about him all night. I try to tell him how much I appreciate what he means to me without getting too mushy, but seriously he’s a superstar and I couldn’t love him any more.”
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