Departing Penrith NRL skipper Luke Lewis admitted he was dreading his final trip to Centrebet Stadium to farewell his adoring fans but the Panthers gave him a victorious send-off with a 36-22 win over Gold Coast on Saturday.
Lewis was unable to play due to a cancer scare that resulted in the removal of his thyroid, but the representative star did spend 80 minutes shaking hands with supporters after the game and had packed his bag as per usual – just in case his side needed him one last time.
“I’ve mixed emotions really. I had my bag packed in the car just in case something happened and I needed to play,” Lewis said.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be possible. I didn’t want this day to come, to tell you the truth.”
The 29-year-old will join Cronulla next season, ending a long association with the Panthers in which he made his first-grade debut in 2001 and helped the club to the 2003 premiership.
He admitted it will take some getting used to not driving to Centrebet Stadium, but said he would take a number of happy memories away with him.
“It was disappointing I couldn’t be out there. I just wanted to play in front of the fans and say thank you to them,” he said.
“It’s hard to say goodbye to all these people. It’s something I am going to hold pretty close to my heart for the rest of my career. But life goes on, I suppose.
“Not playing here every week is going to be the hard part. Getting used to playing at another field is going to be difficult.”
Panthers’ stand-in skipper Kevin Kingston said the team drew inspiration from Lewis before the game and were delighted to send him out a winner.
“He’s a legend at Penrith, nothing is going to change that, and we drew energy off that and seeing the passion in his eyes,” Kingston said.
Fullback Michael Gordon will be joining Lewis at the Sharks next year and was delighted to sign off with a win to end an eight-year career at the foot of the Blue Mountains.
“I’ve loved every minute of it here, the club have been very good to me and I’ll take away a lot of happy memories,” Gordon said.
A Brad Tighe hat-trick and a stirring display from halfback Luke Walsh sealed the win which ended the Titans’ finals hopes in front of a crowd of 7297, and boosted the Panthers’ hopes of avoiding the wooden spoon.
Five-eighth Travis Burns is also departing to play in the English Super League with Hull and Panthers’ coach Ivan Cleary has earmarked Lachlan Coote for the role.
The usual fullback had another strong showing in the No.6 shirt alongside Walsh, who had a hand in five of his side’s six tries.
“He’s still trying to learn the role at six after playing his full career at fullback and has come in at the 11th hour and done really well for us,” Cleary said.
“He’ll go into pre-season with invaluable experience.”
