Doncaster Knights stalwart Tyson Lewis announces retirement

Fans’ favourite Lewis is the club’s leading try scorer of the professional age.

According to Statbunker, the 35-year-old scored 76 tries in 178 games for Knights.

He went into the Guinness Book of World Records after scoring rugby’s fastest try, after just 7.24 seconds, for Doncaster against Old Albanians in 2013.

Lewis, who joined Knights from Plymouth Albion in 2012, is the second club stalwart to hang up his boots in recent weeks following Dougie Flockhart’s decision to do likewise.

He will continue in his position as academy director at Castle Park.

Lewis told drfc.co.uk: “I’ve got nothing but fond memories of my time here and I can’t thank the club and the fans enough for allowing me the opportunity to be able to play.

"When you start out you’re going into the unknown as a young kid from Southend. You move around, you’re looking to make your career, you go to places like Plymouth and then you end up here. I must admit, I wasn’t quite sure where Doncaster was!

"The owners and the fans made me feel very welcome and all you want to do is give back to the club.

"That first season didn’t go according to plan, getting relegated to National One, but we bounced back and that was the start of a love affair with Doncaster.

"As a boy from Essex it’s very rare that you move north or move somewhere else and stay there for this amount of time but Doncaster is very much my home now.

"We make a joke that I actually live here [at Castle Park] and I’ve got a bed downstairs somewhere, the amount of time I spend here, especially with the academy and through my years of playing and training.”