Chris Lewis (Australian rules footballer)

Chris Lewis

Personal information
Birth	17 March 1969 (1969-03-17) (age 42)
Recruited from	Claremont (WAFL)
Height and weight	186 cm / 80 kg
Playing career¹
Team(s)	West Coast Eagles (1987–2000) 215 games, 257 goals
Coaching career¹
Team(s)	Swan Districts (2007–)
¹ Statistics to end of 2000 season
Career highlights
Club Champion Award 1990 West Coast Eagles premiership side 1992, 1994 Claremont premiership side 1996 Indigenous Team of the Century 2005

Christoper Lockley "Chris" Lewis (born 17 March 1969) is a former Australian rules footballer who played over 200 AFL senior games for the West Coast Eagles.

An Indigenous Australian, Lewis attended Christ Church Grammar School for his secondary education, one of the elite independent schools in Western Australia. At the time, Christ Church apparently did not allow Year 10 students to play in the First XVIII football team (which was reserved for Year 11 and 12 boys, for safety reasons). However, Lewis' ability meant that an exception was made in his case. He was also a very good cricketer whilst at Christ Church.

In 1990, he won the West Coast Eagles Club Champion Award. He was a member of the 1992 and 1994 WCE premiership teams, as well as the 1996 Claremont premiership team in the WAFL.

In 2006 Lewis was named as half forward flanker in the Eagles' 20th anniversary team.

As a player, Lewis was considered a highly skilled player - his passing skills were amongst the best in the AFL. The main criticism of Lewis was his frequent suspensions. However, fans felt that he was given particularly unfair treatment from both umpires and the tribunal. Lewis played much of his early football career prior to the AFL taking action against racial abuse, and thus racial taunts from opposition players were a frequent source of provocation. ^[1]

Lewis has been known for many unusual suspensions, including biting Todd Viney's finger in 1991, poking Stephen MacPherson's eye in 1992 and then pushing Peter Worsfold head first into the fence in 1993, just back from suspension. Another time he repeatedly kept on touching Glenn Freeborn on his back while Freeborn was whacking it away.

References

1. ^ Chris Lewis profile on westcoasteagles.com.au

External links

• Chris Lewis's statistics from AFL Tables

Persondata
Name	Lewis, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	17 March 1969
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death