Wally Lewis backs greater NRL crackdown amid CTE battle

After hanging up the boots as one of the best the game has ever seen, "The King" was diagnosed with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which is a form of dementia, and now he's using his experience to speak up about the issue affecting many sporting codes.

In Canberra as part of a Dementia Australia panel at Parliament House on Tuesday, Lewis admitted he is torn about changing the inherently physical nature of rugby league, but when it comes to concussions and CTE, the slogan worn on his shirt said it all - "You only get one brain".

"You'll get people saying it's not as tough as it used to be, and while I don't want the game to be ruined, player health and safety takes priority," Lewis told The Canberra Times.

"They are the ones playing and promoting the game in the best way possible. So if there is a way to to do that, I think we'll rest a lot more comfortably if we can guarantee there aren't going to be further issues for players to deal with.

"Let's face it, there are going to be accidents, but if the contact with the head can be taken out, that's certainly worthwhile."

"They've certainly taken on the right approach, in that anybody that gets concussed in the game now, that's it, they're off," he added.

Lewis represented Queensland in 31 matches and spearheaded the state's Origin dominance from 1980 to 1991, winning eight man-of-the-match awards before he was branded an NRL Immortal in 1999.

Since his CTE diagnosis, Lewis deals with forgetfulness and confusion which affects his day-today life and is occurring with "monotonous regularity".

"I'm fearful for what my future will look like, so I try not to think too much about it," Lewis said.

"We all thought we were 10-feet tall, bulletproof.

"But for most of us, the reality was that it was causing us the extensive long-term damage (and it was) something that we weren't dealing with."

After 23 years of presenting sports for the 6pm bulletin on Nine, Lewis had to stop because of his diagnosis.

Though his bosses were supportive and made accommodations that would allow him to tell packaged sports stories, Lewis couldn't shake the feelings of embarrassment and failure.

In 2022 when Paul Green, another Queensland State of Origin star, died by suicide and was revealed to have advanced CTE, Lewis knew things had to change and he made an appointment with a neurologist.

"I had heard dozens of denials from former footy players, and I didn't want to be another one of those," he said.

He received his diagnosis in 2023 and has been learning to live with it since. Lewis now depends on his diary to help jog his memory and receives support from his partner Lynda Adams, who calls him frequently throughout the day.

But the government and institutions need to do more to protect future generations of sport stars.

"We need to train our kids smarter," he said. "It's not a badge of honour to go back out onto the field with a head injury, it's sheer carelessness."