Queensland Maroons legend and rugby league immortal Wally Lewis will deliver this year's Ross Livermore Memorial Lecture this weekend.
The prestigious address will be broadcast live and free on QRL.com.au and the QRL Facebook page on Saturday from 10am for followers around the world to watch.
Ross Livermore Memorial Lecture: Wally Lewis
The former Kangaroos skipper made his Test debut for Australia against France in July, 1981 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
As the only resident Queenslander in the side, he went on to play 33 more Tests for his country, 24 leading as captain.
Now, 40 years after that Test series against France, Lewis will deliver the annual Ross Livermore Memorial Lecture with international football to be the theme, although he will also reflect on State of Origin.
'The King' was named Queensland captain for the first time on July 27, 1981 when captain / coach Arthur Beetson was ruled out through injury. Beetson remained as coach, and with Lewis at the helm, the Maroons won 22-15 in what was a stand-alone Origin fixture. The following year, a three-match series was introduced.
He ended up playing 31 Origin matches for Queensland, 30 as captain.
Wally Lewis - The King's memorable moments
Lewis worked alongside the late Ross Livermore at the QRL in the 1980s in a coaching and development role, before becoming the inaugural Brisbane Broncos' skipper in 1988.
Livermore was QRL managing director from 1981 until 2011. He passed away on April 16, 2013, and the lecture, previously named after another administrative giant Harry Sunderland, was renamed in his honour.
The first lecture was delivered in 2010 by the late Professor Max Howell, and since then, the likes of Wayne Bennett, John McCoy OAM, Adrian McGregor, Hugh Lunn and Michael Hagan have spoken on a range of topics.
John Lang delivered the 2020 lecture, which concentrated on football in the 1970s.
Ross Livermore Memorial Lecture: John Lang
COVID-19 restrictions mean this year's event is once again invitation only, but will be available to watch live on QRL.com.au and the QRL Facebook page.
The lecture is staged by the QRL History Committee in conjunction with the QRL with Livermore being an inaugural member of the committee.
The current committee consists of Steve Ricketts (chair), John McCoy, Paul Hayes, Greg Shannon, Steve Haddan, Greg Adermann, Peter Betros, Michael Pease and Colleen Edwards.
