Lewis was fierce on the field

Irwin Lewis, a member of Claremont’s 1964 league premiership team, was followed in a Tigers guernsey by his three sons, Clayton, Cameron and Chris. Irwin, who played in the first season of the WAFL’s thirds competition in 1957, was a skilful and physically robust half-back flanker, who made his league debut against East Fremantle on August 16, 1958. He was Claremont’s 19th man in the 1964 grand final, coming on to Subiaco Oval in the hectic last quarter when two goals to Ian Brewer in the final minutes clinched Claremont’s four-point victory over East Fremantle. He retired in 1965 after 75 league appearances. Clayton made 25 league appearances for the Tigers between 1979 and 1982, and Cameron played 92 matches between 1980 and 1990, including the 1987 and 1989 premierships. Chris played in 53 league matches for the Tigers, including the 1996 grand final when Claremont defeated East Perth by two points. He was also a star for the West Coast Eagles, playing 215 matches, highlighted by premierships in 1992 and 1994. Clayton Lewis said his dad often posed problems for opposing players. “He was regarded as one of the hard men of the WAFL. He would swiftly return a facial massage on being abused and dished it out when seeing a teammate unfairly dealt with,” he added. “Apparently one day, a female opposition supporter was wielding an umbrella and was trying to strike Dad over the fence. He grabbed the brolly, broke it over his knee and returned it to the owner.”