NRL: Brown dedicates season to Christchurch

Lewis Brown celebrates the match-winning try in last week's preliminary final against Melbourne. Photo / Getty Images

As his team-mates get their shoulders and knees strapped, Lewis Brown attaches black tape to his left arm. He's not injured, certainly not physically. His pain is of a different kind.

Since the Christchurch earthquakes of February, when 181 people lost their lives, Brown has been playing for the people he grew up with. He has pledged to dedicate the season to them and Sunday represents the last journey of a remarkable year.

"I'm still a Christchurch boy and I will definitely be doing it for Christchurch this weekend,'' he says. "There's not a day that goes past that I don't think of what happened down there and the devastation people are still going through. My heart still goes out to those people. I am playing every inch for them this weekend.

"You hear stories and you know people affected. I know people who lost loved ones but just to see somewhere where you grew up is pretty upsetting. It still plays on my mind. nothing will change that. It still shows the heart of the people down there, how strong they are. they are fighting through it and hopefully by us playing the grand final, and winning, it will put an extra smile on their faces.''

It's never been particularly easy for Brown, who turns 25 on Monday. His mother contemplated taking him to a doctor when in his early teens to see if there was a reason he wasn't growing as quickly as his friends and he tried to make up for his physical limitations with hard work. He also worked in factories to earn a crust because his rugby league career wasn't paying the bills.

He went to Australia when 18 to try to make it into the NRL and played for country club Griffith. He got a run as a junior with the Roosters and was picked up by the Wests Tigers but, as a hooker in those day, his path was blocked by Robbie Farah. It wasn't until he joined the Warriors at the end of 2008 that things turned for the better.

It's probably part of the reason he plays the way he does. He's not as talented as some around him but makes up for it with his wholehearted attitude. He's rarely driven back by defenders when carrying the ball and does more than his fair share on defence.

He's played most of his 59 NRL games as a second-rower for the Warriors but has filled in a lot at centre this season and that's where he will start against Manly on Sunday.

"The career I have had, I did it tough at the start,'' he says. "There were no easy options. It probably makes it sweeter now knowing how hard I worked. I didn't have anything handed to me on a platter.

"I spent days working in a factory just to make a living. To have an event like this is a dream come true. All I ever wanted to do in my career is play for the Kiwis and in a grand final and here I am this Sunday playing in a grand final for the club I love the most.''

Even this season has been difficult. He was a regular for the first half of the year but injury interrupted his season and he struggled to win his way back into the side. It was only an injury to Shaun Berrigan before the round 26 match against the Cowboys that opened an opportunity at centre and he's been a fixture since, including last weekend when he scored the winning try against Melbourne.

"Four weeks ago I was a bit down in the dumps but now I'm on cloud nine,'' he says.

"It still gives me goose bumps when I watch that try [against Melbourne]. I just played off a kid I call a superstar. Shaun Johnson has a huge career in front of him. He's a good kid, really down to Earth and I have a lot of time for him. For him to show his skills like that and beat players like that ... all I had to do was finish off his good work.

"When James [Maloney] kicked that ball from the sideline, for a lot of us it was a dream come true. We have some people leaving like Lance Hoahaia, Ivan [Cleary] and Aaron Heremaia and we want to send them out on a good note. What better way than to do it in a grand final?''

What better way than to recognise Christchurch.