For most young Aussies, getting to the AFL is their dream, the one job that they aspire to for a multitude of reasons.
Some do it for the fame and fortune, wanting to become one of the sport’s biggest stars and soaking up all of the benefits that come with it.
For others, it is purely about glory, a burning desire to be successful and win at every possible opportunity.
And it seems that you can put the Western Bulldog’s Will Lewis in that latter category.
Lewis made his AFL debut this season, at the age of 27, and he had to take a pay cut from his day job to make the league.
The key forward was, in fact, a civil engineer before making the switch to the professional leagues.
Will Lewis has put his career as a civil engineer on hold to play in the AFL
Lewis had to take a pay cut from his day job to join the Western Bulldogs in March
He is now aiming to earn a second contract having played in four of the Bulldog’s eight games this season
In the AFL’s Round Ahead Player Portrait segment, Josh Gabelich highlighted the career shift from Lewis.
‘How many players have taken a pay cut to play in the AFL?’ he asked himself.
‘Well Will Lewis took one when he joined the Western Bulldogs in March, ‘ he continued.
‘Not that he’s complaining, he put his job on hold until the end of the season as a civil engineer.
‘Squared Structures in Abbotsford will have him back whenever he is ready.
‘But after playing four out of the first eight games of 2026, the 27-year-old hopes his job will be on for years instead of a matter of months.
‘See, Will Lewis had never met with an AFL club before he missed two of Luke Beveridge’s calls on the afternoon James Harms retired.
‘The Dogs didn’t have a sport available until that moment in the pre-season and the coach had someone in mind.
‘With just two weeks to go until the SSP deadline the 194cm key forward didn’t have long to prove himself but he had already done enough by that point.
‘Last season was his fourth season at Footscray and he became a star in the VFL kicking 40 goals to help the Dogs win the Premiership.
‘Five days after that grand final win over Southport at Icon Park, Lewis won another Premiership, this time with his local club Old Bright in the Amos. Where he was named best on ground after kicking four goals alongside the guys he went to school with at Brighton Grammar.
‘Lewis went back to his day job after that and didn’t expect to change his day job until February,.
‘But 12 days after he signed that contract at the Witten Oval in March he made his debut in the round one win over the win Greater Western Sydney.
‘It’s been a wild couple of months since then; a career as civil engineer will be waiting for him when it’s all over but right now Will Lewis is out to make sure that ride doesn’t end by the end of spring.’
Lewis has kicked four goals in his four appearances in his debut season so far, and could very well be on his way to a second contract in the AFL.
