'A massive boost': Wally Lewis weighs in on NRL's push for inclusion in Brisbane 2032 Olympics
Rugby league Immortal Wally Lewis has hailed the sport's potential inclusion in the Brisbane 2032 Olympics as a "massive boost" for the game and suggested a touch footy version of the sport should get the nod.
NRL powerbrokers this week kicked off official talks for a form of rugby league to be included in the Brisbane Games, although Andrew Abdo and his team are still weighing up whether to lobby for touch, tag or tackle footy.
Touch football chiefs had already been in their own official talks to have their sport included in the Brisbane Olympics.
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"Whilst I am a fan of the body-contact game ... I think the nations that aren't playing rugby league would certainly be pushing for touch football, which has become an extremely good sport," Lewis said on Nine's Today.
"It's become one of the most popular games right around. Whether people are rugby league, AFL or soccer fans, they still get out for a game of touch footy."
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Touch football has more than 700,000 participants in Australia alone, while Touch Football Australia claims to be the country's "largest social sport".
Last year's Touch World Cup, held in Nottingham in July, was contested by 187 teams from 39 nations.
Rugby league Immortal Wally Lewis. Getty
The NRL's push for inclusion in the Olympics comes at a time when it's trying to grow the game in the United States.
The third year of a five-year plan will see the Bulldogs, Dragons, Knights and Cowboys open the 2026 season in Las Vegas.
The initial sports program for Brisbane 2032 will be revealed next year, after the International Olympic Committee delayed confirmation by 12 months.
On a date yet to be decided, the Brisbane 2032 organising committee will have a chance to propose to the IOC new sports for potential inclusion.
"It would be a massive boost for rugby league," Lewis said of the prospect of the game being played at the Brisbane Olympics.
"I think it's going to take the game right around the world ... The promotion of rugby league right around the world certainly does become extremely exciting, and makes the game certainly more entertaining for the crowds in attendance."
