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The Brisbane Lions pulled off one of the feelgood victories of the year on Sunday, but young leader Harris Andrews says they haven't been sucked into celebrating too long. The Lions overcame a 27-point deficit early in the final quarter to steamroll Essendon in the final 25 minutes at Etihad Stadium and notch their third win of the season. But with just six days to prepare for a clash with third-placed Geelong at the Gabba, they got a quick reality check.
"Today we started on our opposition review," Andrews said on Tuesday. "It's very important to move on quickly and not get caught looking in the past. "We're looking forward to this week against Geelong."
Andrews was one of the stars against the Bombers, waging an exciting duel with Joe Daniher eventually getting on top in the second half. He said the young Lions' trust in new coach Chris Fagan's developing gameplan had given them belief in the final quarter.
"Fages has done a really good job of instilling the gameplan and giving hope to the boys that it does work," Andrews said. The 20-year-old is likely to mark Geelong powerhouse Tom Hawkins on Saturday night, but said the back six would have to work as a unit to stop the Cats' forward line.
Zorko said emerging leader Harris Andrews was not only fiercely protective of the younger players and the entire defence but was also the most likely to give a spray to the club’s big three – Dayne Beams, Tom Rockliff and Zorko.
“He cuddles his defenders if there is a mistake,’’ he said. “He is encouraging towards the younger blokes but is more than comfortable giving some pretty direct feedback to the leaders and experienced blokes. “It is like a 30-year-old’s head on a 21-year-old’s body, it is incredible.’’
The AFL Players' Association is proud to unveil the 2017 22Under22 squad, which honours some of the game's most exciting young talent.
Harris Andrews, Eric Hipwood and Lewis Taylor are the in the 40-man squad selected by the AFLPA Board for their performances across the 2017 home and away season. To be eligible for selection, players must be aged 22 years and under for the entirety of the season, including the finals series.
Harris Andrews has been selected by the AFLPA Board into the 40-man 22Under22 squad. With that in mind, AFLPlayers.com.au takes a look at his rapid growth.
There aren’t many 20-year-old’s like Harris Andrews.
More than 200cm tall, athletic with long arms and legs, Andrews’ stature alone is enough to turn heads, unusual for an AFL footballer in the rugby-obsessed streets of Brisbane.
But it’s not physically where Andrews impresses most. It’s his behaviours that those around him value best.
So much so that the Lions’ key position forward has earned a new nickname by his (slightly) younger housemates, and it’s one that’s catching on around the club.
“We started calling him ‘Dad’ a few months back,” Lions teammate, Hugh McCluggage, told AFLPlayers.com.au.
“He’s a 20-year-old with a 30-year-old’s mannerisms. That’s been picked up by a few other boys and that’s pretty much his nickname now.”
McCluggage and Victorian teammate Jarrod Berry moved in with Andrews the moment they arrived in Brisbane last year — a unique situation given players of Andrews’ life experience don’t often take in first-year players.
It’s a testament to how highly the Lions regard their lanky defender off the field as well as on it.
Despite being a smart-ass from time to time, Andrews is an easy-going guy at home. He’s relatively quiet and measured except when you forget to lock the front door, which McCluggage, a country boy, found out the hard way.
But Andrews’ fiery side has its place and is saved for the training track and on game day.
“He’s very loud. At home, he’s a bit quiet but once he gets out on the track he’s as vocal as they come,” McCluggage added.
“He’s always offering feedback and that’s something all the leaders do but the fact that he’s only 20 surprised me in a good way.
“He wants to see his teammates improve and that’s one of his best qualities.”
Andrews’ competitiveness is a stark contrast to the level-headed kid away from the field and he’s impatient when it comes to improving himself and his teammates.
It’s a competitive edge that’s been evident since he was spotted as a goalkicker in Aspley’s under-18 side.
Luke Curran, Brisbane’s Academy manager, remembers a raw youngster, who, as a late bloomer, knew he had some ground to make up.
“He made an impression with his competitiveness and his determination. He worked hard in all areas and always sought feedback,” Curran said.
“A lot of kids are happy to go through the program, play good footy and enjoy themselves but Harris wanted to take the next step.”
Having a level head was never Andrews’ problem, but being a standout contributor on the field was initially.
By his own admission, the Padua College graduate was just an average player at 16 but after a significant growth spurt, he was able to apply his solid skill base in a key position.
“Kids who are 200cm and can catch it don’t come along very often,” Curran added.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. After joining the state team, his first taste of representative footy was against Oakleigh in the TAC Cup.
Andrews, still a forward at the time, recorded six disposals and failed to impact the scoreboard. He thought his dream was all but over.
“That first TAC Cup game wasn’t a good one and he thought he’d go back to local level and continue on there,” Curran said.
“From our point of view, given he was still a bit of an unknown and it was his first state game, which was a fair step up from Aspley under-18s, we knew there’d be more opportunities to adjust.”
Not one to die wondering, Andrews was motivated by the experience.
In less than four months, the forward was thrown into defence in Queensland’s last TAC Cup game against the Geelong Falcons.
And it’s a game that still sticks in the mind of some AFL recruiters, specifically Brisbane’s who realised they had a talent under their noses.
“Every time he played, he got marginally better but there was a game at Werribee against Geelong where the result was hanging in the balance late and Harris really stood tall,” Brisbane recruiting manager, Stephen Conole recalled.
“He took some strong grabs, courageous ones, where he backed back into packs of players. That’s when we started thinking to ourselves, ‘I think this boy’s going to be a nice player’.”
Recruiters circled but the Lions weren’t going to give up their latest academy project and nabbed with a pick below his market value.
The journey was only beginning and Andrews was thrown into the deep end in his first season, facing a baptism of fire as a Brisbane key position defender.
True to his character, Andrews has not only survived but prospered in his first three AFL seasons, playing 56 games in a backline that’s often under siege — a significant achievement that should turn the heads of AFL pundits.
How often does a player who featured in only two NEAFL games in his draft year miss only eight of 66 in his next three seasons at AFL level?
And 2017 has been the best so far for Andrews. His form has been rewarded with selection in the AFL Players’ Association’s 22Under22 squad and his story is one that continues to be underrated.
“For a young bloke, his resilience and durability has been great and, even more than that, his leadership is coming through. He’s growing so much as a young man,” Conole added.
“On very few occasions does he get comprehensively beaten, even during some of the games where the side has battled, he usually is able to hold his head high.”
Andrews still obsesses over his performance and is described as a massive footy-head. His love for the game is as great as ever despite the all-encompassing nature of being a full-time footballer.
“He’ll watch all the footy shows if he can,” McCluggage said.
“He’ll watch the whole game a day or two after we play to try and pick up on a few things — he just loves footy.”
McCluggage doesn’t mind more footy at home or getting a lecture because of forgetting to lock the front door because he knows the quality character Andrews is.
All of this from a bloke who wouldn’t even be able to drink in some parts of the world.
“He’s only two years older than us but he’s still someone we’d aspire to be.
“We couldn’t have gotten a better bloke to live with — we’re pretty lucky.”
For many Brisbane Lions supporters it’s hard to comprehend that defender Harris Andrews is only 20 years of age. Andrews plays with a maturity and poise well beyond his years.
For most of the 2017 season he was tasked with defending the top forwards in the competition and stepped up to each challenge.
Andrews is never flustered against high-profile opposition and is becoming stronger each season in one-on-one contests. He is a reliable teammate and played all 22 games in 2017.
The Brisbane native proves the depth of the talent pool that exists in Queensland.
Statistics:
Highlights:
- Games: 22
- Disposals per game: 13.0
- Tackles per game: 1.0
- Marks per game: 6.3
- Kicks per game: 7.7
- Total goals: 2
Coach’s Comment – Murray Davis, Backline Coach:
- Named in AFL Players 22 under 22 team
- Named in the Lions’ seven-man Leadership Group
- Committed to the Lions until 2021
- Awarded the Lions most professional player award at the 2017 Club Champion.
Harris continues to grow as an elite young defender. This season he built his game through his ability to intercept mark and spoil along with his contested marking. Harris averaged just over four 1v1 contests per game & he was able to win or draw 3 of these 4 contests per game. Despite only being 20 years of age & 58 games into his career he showed real maturity in his leadership and football intellect.
In their own words:
“I am not the quickest bloke going around but we have been able to combat that, I work on cutting angles where I can."
“It is pretty important to be able to intercept the ball and start the offensive chain, I’d like to increase that number.
“I can clearly see the way the Club is going, and it really excites me for the long-term future.
“I think we all recognise it is a journey, and Fages (Chris Fagan) and the coaching staff have done a good job to emphasise that it doesn’t just happen.
“But the fact we are still enjoying the game and coming to work is a real positive.’’
Harris Andrews
Ht – 201 Wt – 95
This is a kid I have massive raps on and think he could be one of the steals of this draft. I have not seen a hell of a lot of him but when I have I have come away impressed. He is a legitimate ruck size with the ability to play key position. With the number of ruck sized KPFs coming into the game the last few years, clubs are starting to look for defenders who are capable of handling such players. Last year Gold Coast took Jack Leslie at 20 hoping to make him into a KPD. Leslie is a better athlete than Andrews but Leslie is not close to the defender that Andrews is already.
Andrews has played mostly up forward and in the ruck but I see him as a defender based on the games I have seen him play back there. Up forward he is an excellent contested mark but he relies on that too much. His leading is quite poor and every mark he goes for seems to be contested. He gets away with it at junior level but he is not going to at AFL level where his opponents are all going to be bigger, stronger and more athletic. When he does mark it up forward his kicking for goal is pretty solid. Better than most rucks you will find but pretty average overall.
His height does allow him to play in the ruck where he is serviceable. He would need to put on more weight to ruck in the AFL but he has the potential to be better in the ruck than 80% of the KP/2nd ruck options which are currently playing. The ability to be the second ruck should help him get games early in his career.
Where I see him playing long term is at the back as a KPD capable of taking the ruck sized KPFs and the resting rucks. As mentioned above he is an excellent contested mark and has very large hands. He shows good judgement about when to mark and when to spoil. When he is stationed close to goal he shows good strength in the contest (admittedly against junior opponents) and with his height and reach (2nd longest arms at Combine) he is really difficult to mark over. When away from goal a bit he tends to play a step or two off and credit to him he seems to read and react a couple of steps sooner than the forward does. He looks to be an excellent judge of the ball in the air and backs himself to be in the right spot no matter what the forward is going to do. If the ball is going to the forward he closes very quickly and goes body on body with his opponent. When the ball is going to miss the forward though he seems to be the one leading his opponent to the ball. More than anything this kind of judgement is what has me most impressed with him.
Skills wise he is solid. He seems to pick his targets well and hit them. I would not say he is hugely dangerous coming out of defence but he is very capable of being a link in the possession chain and moving things along well. Athletically he plays with good agility and decent pace for a man of his size. I note, like all the Queenslanders, he tested pretty poorly at Combine but I see him being better than what he showed.
Overall I see him as a very nice prospect and a bargain at pick 63 in this draft.
“Harris Andrews was a natural selection as deputy vice-captain. A player that displays leadership beyond his youth, his on-field leadership with the backline is equally as evident in his off-field work.
Which player will make the leap to stardom in 2018?
Player Team Votes
...
4. Eric Hipwood BL 8 per cent
5. Harris Andrews BL 7 per cent
...
Hipwood is one of the most exciting young talents in the AFL, while Andrews has already established himself as a leader at the Lions and looms as one of the best defenders in the competition over the next decade.