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Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Wally Lewis reveals footy legend Sam Backo's final wish before he died aged 64
Rugby league great Sam Backo's dying wish was to pass away on the country where he was born in far north Queensland, NRL Immortal Wally Lewis has revealed. The former Raiders, Broncos, Queensland and Kangaroos star lost his battle with a bacterial infection last Sunday, aged 64. He died surrounded by family in hospital in his home town of Cairns, with Lewis and his fellow Broncos and Maroons great Gene Miles visiting their former teammate shortly before he passed. 'He'd been battling for a number of months and he was still in a great mood,' Lewis told Channel Nine. 'Geno [Miles] and I got the opportunity to go along and visit Sam, say g'day to him, and he seemed like he was in great spirits. 'He was battling all the way through, and sadly lost his fight for life. Backo's fellow footy legend, Wally Lewis (pictured with wife Lynda) paid him a visit shortly before he died from a bacterial infection 'He really needed to be in his homeland, though, when he wanted to go. 'He said to his wife, "Get me out of here. If I'm gonna pass away, I'm gonna want to die in an area where I'm gonna feel very comfortable", and it was a very moving moment.' Lewis has fond memories of playing with Backo, whose stellar play in the forward pack earned him the nickname 'Slammin' Sam'. 'He was always fun to be around, the guys used to say, except for dinner time,' Lewis joked. 'He was just a great guy, very funny man as well.' Backo enjoyed a glittering career at the top of the game during the '80s, and was hailed for his work away from the footy pitch as an advocate for Indigenous Australians. He was named one of the greatest Aboriginal players of the 20th century and notably became the first Australian forward to score tries in all three Tests of an Ashes series, in 1988. During his international career, the former prop forward also won six caps for the Kangaroos and represented Queensland on seven occasions, helping lift the Maroons to victories during the 1988 and 1989 series. The former Queensland star had been diagnosed with melioidosis in April and had spent some time in an intensive care unit in Cairns Hospital. Backo, who also had a heart condition, had been transferred to a hospital in Brisbane to have a pacemaker inserted in July. Reports from some outlets claimed that the former prop believed he had caught the illness following a swim in a Freshwater Creek at Goomboora Park in Cairns. Melioidosis is an infectious disease that is caused by bacteria lurking in soil or dirty water. The illness is treated with antibiotics and symptoms can include fevers, headaches or trouble breathing. The illness has killed 35 people in Queensland so far this year. Backo's sisters Dolores, Charmaene, Kathrine and Jewel said in a statement: 'He was also a strong fighter for his people, the Warrgamay people and the South Sea Islander community, descended from Ni-Vanuatu and Solomon Islander people kidnapped as slave labour for the Queensland and NSW sugar industry. 'He was a man with a huge generosity of spirit and was always thinking of others. 'Even as he lay in the Cairns Hospital's intensive care unit, he made sure he sent a message of condolence to the family of a friend who had just passed. 'Just one example of the measure of the man.'
Yahoo
03-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Queensland great Sam Backo dies, aged 64
Queensland State of Origin legend Sam Backo has been hailed as wonderful player and loveable teammate, after his death at age 64. One of the heroes of the Maroons' domination of Origin in the late 1980s, Backo died surrounded by family in his home town of Cairns on Sunday. The former Canberra and Brisbane forward had been battling a melioidosis infection in recent months, and suffered a heart attack two years ago. Backo played seven Origins for the Maroons between 1988 and 1990, but his impact was immense. The front-rower became the first front-rower to be named man of the match in two straight Origins, as Queensland romped to a 3-0 sweep in Backo's rookie series. "Sam was a wonderful player for Australia and Queensland, where he was always entertaining in our team bus with his dry humour," Broncos and Maroons teammate Gene Miles said. "He was an old-fashioned front-rower but very quick for his size too. He always made plenty of yards every time he took the ball up. "He made his debut for Queensland in 1988 and made an immediate mark with two man of the match awards in a row in that series. "You just knew he would outplay the opposition and from those fantastic Origin displays he got picked to play for Australia." Backo played six Tests for Australia in 1988 and 1989, and was in 2008 named in the Indigenous team of the century. "There was not a guy in Queensland camp that didn't like Sam. He was such a loveable big unit," Miles said. "We had a lot of fun with him. He had a special spot at the back of the team bus with all the big forwards. "I'd sit up front with Wally (Lewis) and with all the windows shut we would whack the back heaters on high heat and Sam and Martin Bella would blow up. "All we could hear from the back was, 'Turn that off'." Sending support from the entire Broncos community to Queenslander and former Bronco, Sam Backo and his family during this difficult time 💛 — Brisbane Broncos (@brisbanebroncos) April 2, 2023 Away from rugby league, Backo continued to work in the Indigenous space after his 1990 retirement, engaged in a community development program assisting people on their release from jail. Born in Ingham, Backo's mother Dr Evelyn Scott was an Aboriginal rights activist who played a key role in the 1967 referendum which gained citizenship for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. "I am proud to be a north Queensland rainforest Murri," Backo told the Former Origin Greats magazine in 2022. "I was playing for my mob and for all the blackfellas. We came through the struggle and we stood up and were counted." ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys also paid tribute to Backo - the man and the footballer. "Sam was as tough as they come, a larger-than-life character who was as recognisable as he was resilient," V'landys said in a statement. "Through a successful career with Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos, not to mention Queensland and Australia, he was a one-of-a-kind footballer. "A member of the Indigenous Team of the Century, Sam was also a generous and selfless man who was passionate about Indigenous health and advocacy away from the field."
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Wally Lewis reveals the question he wishes he could stop asking his new wife - after the King of rugby league married her amid rift with his grown-up children
Rugby league legend Wally Lewis has opened up about how his new wife Lynda is helping him navigate his battle with a devastating neurodegenerative condition - and the question he wishes he could stop asking her. Representing Queensland in 31 matches, Lewis spearheaded the state's dominance from 1980 to 1991, winning eight man-of-the-match awards before he was branded an NRL Immortal in 1999. The 65-year-old announced his shock retirement as a sports presenter in 2023, after revealing he was probably suffering from the effects of a neurodegenerative condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Lewis married his partner Lynda Adams last month, but the happy occasion in Brisbane was boycotted by his children with his first wife, Jacqueline. While Lynda's daughter was front and centre at the nuptials, but Lewis's sons Lincoln and Mitchell, and daughter Jamie-Lee were conspicuously absent - with Lincoln attending an event a short drive away. Now Lewis has detailed the profound effects of his early onset dementia diagnosis, explaining that those around him have noticed that he often repeats himself and hailing Lynda for being a rock for him. 'My partner Lynda has been fantastic through it, and has been very patient,' the man known as 'The King' told The Howie Games podcast. 'But the amount of times where I've seen this expression on her face - and same with Gene [footy legend Gene Miles]. 'Seen this expression on their faces. I know that I've obviously said something or said it wrong - and I'll say to her "Have I already said that?" 'And she'll say it doesn't matter. And I'll say how many times have I said it, and she'll say - and I'm putting my fingers up here - two, three, four, five times. 'The embarrassment of being repetitive is not something I'm looking for, but to be honest I'm kind of past that now. I don't worry about the embarrassment. I apologise and get on with life.' Lewis then revealed that he had no idea how many times he'd been concussed throughout his storied footy career. 'When I got asked by the doctor the first time, my answer to him was "are you looking for an average of how many times a year?"' Lewis said. 'I dunno, fifty? sixty?' The rugby league icon said one concussion he remembers clearly occurred when he copped a serious head knock while making a tackle. Lewis says he collapsed a few times after making the tackle and eventually had to be helped off the pitch by the team doctor. 'I went to see him [the doctor] the next day and he said "Do you remember when I walked you from the field?"' Lewis recalled. 'I said that I was concussed and he said, "No, do you you remember what happened next?"' 'I said, "You were walking me along and then you pushed me to the ground".' '...He said you were pissing your pants. We had these white shorts on and he said he could see the urine. And he said "I pushed you to the ground because there was a camera coming up" as they always do when you're being replaced. 'I said I didn't remember that at all.' CTE is the progressive degenerative disease most commonly found in people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic head injuries. The disease is most commonly associated with athletes involved in contact sports such as rugby league and AFL. Symptoms include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, aggression, depression and eventually, progressive dementia. There is no known treatment or cure for the condition. Lewis says his first symptoms were fleeting moments of forgetfulness. But these began recurring with 'monotonous regularity'. 'I was a little bit out of sorts, and then the confusion came, and then the denial,' he said in a 2024 interview. 'My best friends, my workmates ... it soon became very obvious by the looks upon their faces.' After 23 years of presenting sports for the 6pm bulletin, he had to stop. While his bosses were supportive and made accommodations that would allow him to deliver packaged sports stories, Lewis couldn't shake the feelings of embarrassment and failure. But 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 wife, who calls him frequently throughout the day.
