Graham's Waltzing Boy Wonder

Jack’s Dancing Down His Own Path And His Dad Doesn’t Mind A Bit.

- Amy Prebble

For rugby league legend Graham Lowe, old habits die hard. As he watched his son Jack deliver a magnificent performance at a national competition, he leapt to his feet and yelled, “Go number 14!”

Graham’s other son Sam had to intervene. “Dad, shut up – you’re not at the footy!” The Lowe family were supporting Jack at the New Zealand Ballroom Championships in Hamilton, so Graham (72) brought his encouragement down a notch.

“I stood on the edge of the dance floor and I just watched them [Jack and his dance partner Arwyn Stevens]. They were doing one of the waltzes, they came down towards me and all of a sudden it just got me. The grace, style and the strength. And I started crying. Then Sam hissed, ‘Dad, you’ve taken the cringe factor to 10,’” Graham says, laughing.

Jack (15) confirms that Graham is an emotional spectator. “Dad doesn’t really see many of the practices. He really only sees me at competitions and he just cries usually.”

Graham, who has coached Australian rugby league team the Manly Sea Eagles, English powerhouse Wigan, and is the only non-Australian to coach a team in the State of Origin competition, says he is blown away not only by the beauty of the dancing, but also by the intense training needed to achieve ballroom greatness.

“Jack puts in more training than most professional rugby league players that I’ve ever had anything to do with,” he says. “And I demanded a lot from players when I was coaching. What’s required for what he does is just at another level.”

Sam (15) is the sporty one in the family – he’s a keen basketball and volleyball player – but neither of the twins is following in their famous dad’s footsteps. This doesn’t worry Graham in the slightest.