There isn’t much Luke Lewis hasn’t seen or done in rugby league.
The veteran back-rower is prepared for his 17th season in first grade and believes there is a chance he will see something he hasn’t seen in that time – a team winning back to back premierships.
Cronulla will attempt to do what no team has done since Brisbane in 1992-93 and win titles two years in a row and Lewis is adamant they can do it because of the attitude of one man – coach Shane Flanagan.
“Flano has been great,” Lewis said.
“He came [back into pre-season on day one] and hit the nail on the head and said we’ve had a great year [last year] but now it’s time to flick the switch and start again for 2017.
“I think everyone is on board with that. Everyone is pulling in the same direction that I can see and everyone’s on the same page to achieve the same goals.”
Lewis won the coveted Clive Churchill Medal for an outstanding performance in Cronulla’s memorable grand final win over Melbourne.
But there has been no hangover since the grand final, with Lewis and the team hitting the ground running in the search for back to back titles.
“Pre-season has been good, I really enjoyed it. It gives you a bit of a different look at things after winning the grand final,” Lewis said.
“It gives you a little bit more motivation, you realise how good it is and how lucky you are to win one. [I’m] pretty motivated to hopefully just do as well as last year.”
“It wasn’t [hard to come back to training] actually. We had a really good break. We had eight weeks [off] which was really good.
“I was five weeks into the break and itching to get back into training and start getting fit. It’s good to enjoy the win as well as we did and to have the community behind us was pretty special.
Flano came back into pre-season on day one and hit the nail on the head and said we’ve had a great year but now it’s time to flick the switch and start again for 2017.
- Luke Lewis
“The way everyone celebrated out here was awesome. I got to enjoy all that but I was so glad to be back.”
Lewis will remain a vital part of Cronulla’s enviable forward pack that will again feature the size and skill of Andrew Fifita, Matt Prior, Wade Graham and captain Paul Gallen.
