Wyong captain-coach Todd Lewis to play 100th game for club in Central Coast semi-final

Wyong captain-coach Todd Lewis will announce a major milestone in the semi-final game against Terrigal, following the club's meteoric rise, premiership triumph, and opponents playing on Tazos.

For Roos' captain-coach Todd Lewis, who will be playing in his 100th first-grade game for the club this weekend, the elimination final between Wyong and Terrigal will have that extra piece of meaning.

The 29-year-old has been a part of the Wyong Roos organization since he was 11 years old.

He then said, "I get to see it out now, and it's been pretty special."

The playmaker has enjoyed an impressive career in green and gold, having played for the club at both the first-grade and NSW Cup levels.

After a meteoric rise through the juvenile ranks, Lewis was completely overwhelmed by his introduction to adult football in 2012.

To quote, "I was not allowed to participate in a grade-level game. From the U-18s to the NSW Cup against the Canberra Raiders for his first trial, he said.

Tom Learoyd-Lahrs was the (opposing) backrower I had, and I still have his Tazos to sign. It was remarkable, and it's hard to believe that 11 years had passed. Too quickly, it passes.

Lewis has played in two grand final-winning teams (in 2014 and 2016) and has played alongside several former National Rugby League players.

"Winning those competitions was incredible; I count myself extremely fortunate to have participated in them," he exclaimed.

Lewis won in 2016, and after taking a "mate break" at Northlakes and Terrigal for a few years, he will be returning to his youth club in 2021 as captain-coach.

With Lewis's leadership, Wyong has made a strong start to the season and is now only four points out of the top four after a challenging first eight rounds.

We just told the lads that there are only six games left and that they must win all of them or at least four of them and hope for a favorable outcome in the other two to guarantee a berth in the semi-finals in August.

Lewis elaborated, "I think that was a bit of a rev-up of what they needed; our theme was: 'No talk, just actions.'"

It worked, as Wyong has won five of their past six games, including victories over Erina and this weekend's opponents Terrigal, both of whom are also in the hunt for the premiership.

The Woy Woy Roosters have come on strong as of late and handed the Roos their first setback since then, 22-20, only last week.

Lewis has been inspired to believe that the Roos can repeat their 2014 title season after this impressive run.

Despite the passage of time, he reflected, "For a couple of us older boys it was refreshing to say that we've been here before and we know what to do." The last time they were in this position, they won the competition in 2014.

In a squad led by captain-coach Dean Amos and including future NRL players Jacob Liddle and Adam Keighran, Lewis was one of the younger players.

After saying, "We just scraped into the semis in fifth spot and then just went five in a row," he emphasized that their berth in the semifinals was "just scraped."

Even though Terrigal's roster was packed with all-stars, we were able to knock them out in the semi-finals. We then went on to defeat the heavy favorites, Berkeley Vale, 8-6 in the championship game.

Again, the most important thing was that we have a good time while playing; after all, we had nothing to lose. But on that other team, we were all kids, with the exception of our coach Deano.

Lewis is getting ready to play his 100th first-grade game for Wyong, and he says that both his body and his mind are optimistic about the club's future.

The good news is that he believes he has many more years ahead of him until he finally gets the proverbial tap on the shoulder.

I hope I get to play next year, and if I can be the captain and coach again, that would be fantastic.

The captain-coach is eager to add to his already impressive history at Wyong by winning the upcoming game before the new season begins.

The opening match in the championships will be against the Sharks, much like that incredible year nine years ago.

On Saturday at 3:05 pm, Wyong will play Terrigal in an elimination semi-final at Ted Doyle Oval.