Tiger Teaches New Generation On and Off the FieldWednesday, June 18, 2025 - 7:59 AM

Claremont’s Jack Lewsey is setting himself up for life after football in a career which provides vital assistance for athletes and those facing mental health challenges.

Lewsey is not only an outstanding small defender he’s also a performance psychologist, a role which has seen him recruited by WA Football to work with the Under 18s Boys squad during the current 2025 Marsh AFL National Championships.

“As a performance psychologist, I facilitate group sessions and provide individual support as needed, addressing both performance enhancement strategies and general mental health concerns,” Lewsey said.

“I think there has been a real shift within sport and mental health in general in how they approach psychology.

“There are a lot of current AFL players who have been really public on their mental health battles, but also how they use performance psychology in their routines.”

Lewsey doesn’t just focus on supporting athletes.

“I work at the Esus Centre, which is a clinic that works in the treatment of eating disorders which is an area I'm really passionate about,” he said.

“Sport and disordered eating/body image concerns have always been linked and it’s an area I hope to progress in further. 

“More specifically I think there is a huge amount of growth that can be done in the area of men and their body image issues/identity.

“Former Eagle Braiden Ainsworth and I are linking up later in the year for an event to bring awareness to this topic and hopefully launch a grass roots program.

“He recently was brave enough to share his story around his eating disorder and mental health struggles recently, and it’s a story that is commonly seen but not often told in the community.” 

It will come as no surprise that Lewsey is supportive of this weekend’s Think Mental Health Round in the Sullivan Logistics WAFL season.

“It is hugely important and it's another opportunity to check in with one another and a reminder that as young people (14 to 44 years old) our most likely cause of death is by our own hands.

“It's also a good reminder that were all people first and you never know the battles people are going through behind closed doors.

“It's a good way to facilitate some of those more uncomfortable but necessary conversations.” 

A stress fracture in his back forced him to miss a season of colts football in 2015 but he recovered and played 20 colts matches the following year.

Having made his League debut in 2018, Lewsey has developed into a reliable, hard running defender.

The 26-year-old missed last season while he was in Melbourne competing the final year of his studies in sport and exercise and psychology at the Institute Of Social Neuroscience.

Lewsey has resumed at the Tigers and recently posted his 100th match, but team aspirations outweigh personal achievements.

“As a side we are starting to put the pieces together,” Lewsey said.

“History shows that you really need to have a double chance in WAFL finals to be competitive these days.

“We're a really tight group on and off the field and were positive that it will translate into a deep finals run this year.”