When Mikey Lewis was awarded a new shirt number by Hull KR at the start of the season, he was so proud he decided to get it tattooed on his neck in Roman numerals. There was just one problem.
‘I sent the wrong number to the tattooist,’ admits a sheepish Lewis, when Mail Sport asks why he has IV (four) inked on his skin instead of VI (six).
‘When I had it done, I knew straight away. I didn’t say anything to anybody until someone noticed it – and then I had a back-up story. Luckily for me, my birthday is on the fourth, so I fall back on that!
‘It doesn’t really bother me now. It is embarrassing and you get the mick taken out of you. But you’ve got to laugh about it because it’s going to be there for a long time!’
That Lewis wanted the No6 etched permanently on his body does, though, show just how much it means to him to wear a shirt that had been retired since Hull KR legend Roger Millward died, aged 68, in 2016.
The Robins’ record try-scorer captained the club to their only Challenge Cup win in 1980 and coached them to their last top-flight title and major trophy in 1985.
Mikey Lewis (pictured) is hoping to win the Challenge Cup with Hull KR on Saturday
Lewis’ Hull KR have not won a trophy since 1985, but could end their drought at Wembley
Lewis is bidding to follow in the footsteps of club legend Roger Millward (pictured lifting the Challenge Cup back in 1980)
Last year, Carol Millward gave permission for her late husband’s No6 jersey to be unretired and passed on to the ‘worthy’ Lewis, who was named the 2024 Man of Steel for leading KR to the Grand Final. Now, the homegrown half back wants to emulate ‘Roger the Dodger’ – by winning the Challenge Cup at Wembley.
‘When Carol said she wanted me to wear the number, and that I had similar traits to Roger when he played, I was very emotional,’ says Lewis ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Warrington Wolves.
‘It was a massive honour for her to compare me to him and I want to do the shirt proud and hopefully win some silverware in it. Hopefully with him looking down, he can spur us on and see me lift that trophy in his shirt.’
Super League leaders Rovers are favourites to beat Sam Burgess’ Wolves, having triumphed 31-12 against them in the Super League a fortnight ago. And local lad Lewis can only imagine the scenes if KR were to end their 40-year trophy drought.
‘If were to win silverware, I think it’ll be a bank holiday week!’ he laughs. ‘Nobody will be going to work. It’d be mayhem in east Hull. Absolutely carnage. It means so much to the fans and they’ve waited so long. It’s time to pay them back now.’
Lewis believes his team will be motivated by the memory of their heartbreaking defeat in the Challenge Cup final two years ago, when they lost to Leigh Leopards on golden point.
‘It was devastating playing in my first Challenge Cup final and losing in extra-time,’ says the 23-year-old. ‘But we can learn a lot from that and I feel like we have.
‘I feel like we’re more ready for the bigger games now. I feel like we’ve been building over the last couple of years to try and achieve this. Hopefully this time around, we can get over the line.
‘It’s all up for grabs this season. We’re got to keep putting the performances in every week so at the backend of the year we can hopefully lift the League Leaders’ Shield and get to the Grand Final again.’
No player has been more instrumental in the Robins’ recent resurgence than Lewis. He joined KR shortly when he was 17 and made his debut for the first team aged 18 in 2019. After loan spells at Newcastle Thunder and York Knights, he established himself at Craven Park in 2022, making his England debut against Tonga the following year.
Such success, however, was unthinkable when Lewis was 15 and rejected by the now defunct City of Hull Academy, from which Hull KR and Hull FC used to pick players. ‘I’m very proud of the journey I’ve been on,’ he says.
Lewis was named Man of Steel last year after Hull KR made the Super League Grand Final
He has joked that winning the Challenge Cup would lead to a bank holiday week in east Hull
‘I always wanted to be a professional player, but I wasn’t the fittest and I fell out of love with the game when I was around 15.
‘I was 95 per cent sure that I was going to quit and try and find something else in life to do. But my mum and dad told me some home truths and got me to fall in love with the game again.
‘I really sorted myself outside – started eating better, started going to the gym and really saw myself change. I saw my game go upwards and the rest is history.’
While Lewis is now KR’s talisman, he actually grew up as a fan of their rivals on the other side of the city.
‘Coming from west Hull, all my family were Hull FC,’ he admits. ‘My dad’s best mate was Paul King who played for Hull FC, so I used to travel to watch them home and away until I was about 13, 14. It’s all I knew.
‘My brother Owen is still a season-pass holder. The derby is a funny one because I won’t speak to him! But my mum and dad support me and Hull KR now. My dad has fully converted. He probably wouldn’t want me to say this, but he’s in the East Stand every week, singing and on the drink! He loves it.’
Lewis insists he will never now swap the red and white for black and white. One move that does interest him, however, is to Australia’s NRL.
‘That’s a dream of mine,’ he says. ‘I’ve watched it since I was a kid and every player wants to test themselves against the best. But I’m happy where I am at the moment and it’s unlikely it’ll change for a long time.’
That is partly because Lewis now has more than just himself to think about, having recently become a father for the first time.
‘I feel like it’s really, really changed me,’ adds Lewis about his son Romey, who was born in April. ‘I’ve really matured. I can’t just do stuff like a normal 23-year-old can do now.
‘It gives me another reason why I want to do well in my career. I’ve been doing it for my parents but I’m doing it for him now as well. When he grows up, I want him to have images of his dad lifting silverware.’
Such as the Challenge Cup at Wembley on Saturday.
