Nicknamed The King and also The Emperor of Lang Park,[6] Lewis represented Queensland in thirty-one State of Origin games from 1980 to 1991, and was captain for thirty of them.

Lewis is perhaps best known for his State of Origin performances, spearheading Queensland's dominance in that competition throughout the 1980s and winning a record 8 man of the match awards.

In 1977 while still in high school, Lewis also played representative rugby union as a Centre, touring Europe and Japan with the Australian schoolboys team alongside the likes of Tony Melrose, Michael O'Connor, and all three Ella brothers Mark, Glen and Gary, all of whom went on to represent the Australia national rugby union team, while O'Connor would become a dual international when he played alongside Lewis for the Kangaroos.

With former Australian halfback Ross Strudwick now captain-coach of the Diehards, Lewis helped Valleys to premiership victory over the Wayne Bennett-coached Souths Magpies side in the BRL Grand Final at Lang Park.

Playing in the centres for the Magpies that day was a 19-year-old cadet policeman who would become a long serving Queensland and Australian teammate of Lewis in the coming decade, Mal Meninga.

In what proved to be a master stroke, Beetson coached the team from the sidelines and handed the captaincy over to 21-year-old Lewis who had moved from lock to play Five-eighth.

Lewis was left out of the first Ashes test against Great Britain at Boothferry Park in Hull and coach Frank Stanton had been less than impressed with his attitude to training and his off-field habits which had seen him actually gain weight.

During the tour, Lewis captained his first game for Australia in an international when the Kangaroos defeated Wales in a "non-test" at Ninian Park in Cardiff.

The club asked him to name his price and, not believing that they could afford it, Lewis told them it would cost £30,000 for him to play in England (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £140,100 in 2016).

[22] What he did not know was that a wealthy Wakefield businessman financially supported the club and was bankrolling their attempt to sign Lewis (who by the end of 1983 had been rated the best player in rugby league).

Good to his word and despite being jaded and in need of a break, Lewis signed to play his only season of English club football and became the highest paid player in England at the time.

Back in Australia, Lewis left Valleys and ultimately signed with the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls after initially considering an offer from Past Brothers.

[26] Wally was also named player of the series for his performance as captain of the Brisbane Rugby League team that won the 1984 National Panasonic Cup Final against Sydney's Eastern Suburbs Roosters club.

He then played in Wynnum-Manly's 1985 BRL grand final loss to a Souths Magpies team which included Gary Belcher, Mal Meninga and Peter Jackson.

The following year, internal problems between the Seagulls club board and its head coach Des Morris saw Lewis installed as Captain-coach of Wynnum-Manly.

Lewis would lead the team, which included rep players Colin Scott, Gene Miles and Bob Lindner, to a 14–6 win over Brothers in the 1986 BRL Grand Final at Lang Park.

[27] Don Furner, who took over as Australian coach in 1986 before the mid-season test series against New Zealand, later told that while initially weary of working with Lewis based on Fearnley's public comments and Lewis' battles with Frank Stanton on the 1982 Kangaroo Tour, he encountered no problems with the Australian captain and the two formed a good personal and working relationship.

Although Queensland lost the 1986 State of Origin series 3–0 to NSW, the first clean sweep in Origin history, Lewis led the Australian's to a clean sweep of New Zealand in the mid-season test series, scoring a try in the 29-12 second test win at the SCG and the 32–12 win in the final game at Lang Park.

In 1988, Lewis finally got to play in the Sydney premiership when he was signed by the Brisbane Broncos as inaugural captain of the side upon their inception in 1988, leading the new club to a 44–10 win over defending NSWRL premiers Manly at Lang Park in their first ever game.

Lewis and teammate Sam Backo also joined Ken Irvine as the only Australian players to score a try in each test of an Ashes series.

Late in the first half when it became clear that with a 21–0 lead Australia would win the game, coach Don Furner replaced Lewis with Terry Lamb.

At the end of the 1990 season, due to salary cap restrictions, Lewis was not made a large enough offer to keep him at the Broncos, with Bennett citing the need to retain younger talent.

[33] Following the souring of his relationship with the Broncos, Lewis was unwilling to move to Sydney for family reasons and in 1991, he joined the Gold Coast Seagulls and was appointed as captain by coach Malcolm Clift.

He won his eighth and last man-of-the-match award in the first game of the State of Origin series that year, before playing both his last match for Queensland and Australia by the end of the season.

[34] Wally Lewis played his last game for the Seagulls in a match against a South Australian 'Select' team (which included his longtime friend Paul Vautin, as well as St George Dragons players Ricky Walford and Jeff Hardy) at the Thebarton Oval in Adelaide on 7 November 1992, the night before the Australian Formula One Grand Prix.

Wally Lewis is remembered for his creative, playmaking football and great on-field confrontations, most notably one in the 1991 State of Origin series with Mark Geyer.

The name Wally Lewis is synonymous with State of Origin and Queensland Rugby League and continues to be an inspiration to future generations of footballers.

[44] Wally's son, Lincoln,[45] was a full-time actor on the Seven Network television drama, Home and Away, winning a TV Week Logie Award for best male new talent.

A similar event occurred two weeks later, on 30 November, when Lewis appeared onscreen and began to read the autocue, saying "Good evening" before seeming distressed.

[55] Lewis is quoted as saying that "People come and ask me now about things (from his rugby league career) and I just don't remember them at all – that's absolutely frightening.