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BRISBANE has capped off an excellent week for the club by re-signing three players, including one of the game’s best young defenders.
Key defender Harris Andrews headlines the trio who are all under the age of 21, with Ben Keays and Sam Skinner also locked in at the club.
The news comes just two days after the Lions’ impressive win over Fremantle, their second of the season, and five days after young forward Josh Schache — a recent top draft pick — signed on until the end of 2019.
Andrews signed a three-year extension to a deal which already saw him contracted until the end of 2018, meaning he is committed to Brisbane until the end of 2021. Keays and Skinner have both signed on until the end of 2019.
The 20-year-old Andrews is a member of the club’s leadership group and was already rated as one of the top five players at the Lions at the start of 2017 by Champion Data. He has played 47 games since being selected with Pick 61 in the 2014 national draft.
“It was important for us to secure Harris’ services,” Brisbane GM of football David Noble said.
“As a Queenslander he is a great reflection of our commitment to drafting and retaining local talent. Harris will continue to grow as a leader of this club and is a big part of our future.”
YOUNG defender Harris Andrews has signed a contract that will tie him to the Brisbane Lions until the end of 2021.
Andrews, 20, was already contracted until the end of next season and has extended his deal for a further three years.
Andrews, taken with pick No.61 in the 2014 NAB AFL Draft, has played 47 games and is already in the Lions' leadership group. He has been the mainstay of the Lions' defence this season, taking over from the retired Daniel Merrett at full-back.
"The direction the club is heading in really excites me. There was no doubt I was going to stay here," Andrews said on Tuesday afternoon. "We're all on the same lines of understanding where the club is going and the direction it's taking. It's a very exciting time for all the young boys. "Due to our young group, we're all just enjoying being up here. It's a real opportunity for us to grow as a group."
Lions' general manager of football David Noble said Andrews' signature was important. "As a Queenslander he is a great reflection of our commitment to drafting and retaining local talent," Noble said. "Harris will continue to grow as a leader of this club and is a big part of our future."
Andrews and Keays are both graduates of the Lions Academy.
Justin Sherman did for us. I think he played his 100th game for us as a 22 year old.Out of curiosity does anyone know how many players have hit 50 games at 20 years old?
Justin Sherman did for us. I think he played his 100th game for us as a 22 year old.
I'd say there would be a few.
FOR a bloke who arrived in the AFL with question marks on his pace, Harris Andrews is doing things in a hurry. Not since Jonathan Brown arrived in 1999 has a kid walked into the Gabba and been so quickly identified as a future captain. The softly spoken but savagely competitive defender wears many hats at the Lions.
At just 20 years of age, he is the pillar of their defence and the rock around which the club hopes the next premiership is built. According to Lions legend Leigh Matthews, he is also the poster child for the value of AFL academies in expansion markets. Matthews doesn’t like to comment on individual players much these days now that he sits on the Lions board.
But he says the most impressive thing about the 202cm Aspley junior is how quickly he has become a top-line defender. “The thing about the really tall players is they take a long time to be physically ready, everybody accepts that, but Harris is already going up against the biggest and strongest forwards in the competition every week,’’ he said. Matthews said the Lions’ ultimate goal was to have half the positions on their list occupied by Queenslanders.
It is why the academies are so important, and Matthews says the emergence of a player of Andrews’ standing in the competition from the Lions academy would act as an inspiration for talented teenagers with a choice to make about which sport they pursued.
If his re-signing this week until the end of 2021 slipped under the radar when compared with that of Josh Schache the week before, it is because he was never considered a flight risk. However, Andrews says it is only partly because he is maroon-grown. “I can clearly see the way the club is going, and it really excites me for the long term future,’’ he said.
“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.’’ Andrews is strong in one-on-one contests and adjustments to his starting position have made a major difference with the way he defends the competition’s more mobile forwards.
The next step in his evolution is to develop his intercept marking game, like Tiger Alex Rance and Crow Jake Lever. “I am not the quickest bloke going around but we have been able to combat that, I work on cutting angles where I can,’’ he said. “It is pretty important to be able to intercept the ball and start the offensive chain, I’d like to increase that number.”
4. Andrews shows why Lions wanted him
The Lions' fighting effort capped an excellent week for the club and arguably their best piece of news was the re-signing of key defender Harris Andrews until the end of 2021. He again showed why the Lions were so keen to tie him to the club on a long-term deal. The 21-year-old did an excellent job on the imposing Charlie Dixon on Saturday night. Andrews acquitted himself as well in one-on-one contests as just about anyone in recent times, holding him to just one goal from 16 possessions despite plenty of supply.
Harris Andrews will celebrate his 50th AFL match on Sunday, at just 20 years of age.
Of the most impressive were Andrews and McStay, who consistently came up trumps against a stacked Essendon forward line featuring Joe Daniher and Cale Hooker. While Daniher kicked two goals in the first term, young Andrews soon got on top in the contest and ultimately finished with 20 disposals and nine marks. “I really enjoyed playing on Joey,” Andrews told Fox Footy. He kicked a couple of goals early and I was a bit flat about that, but a bit more pressure in the midfield really helped me in the second half.”
It's Sunday afternoon at Etihad and Brisbane Lions defender Harris Andrews, in his third year and playing his 50th game, is facing off against Essendon's Joe Daniher, an emerging star in his 84th. It's an absorbing battle. Daniher kicks 3.4 and is a constant threat for the Bombers, but Andrews takes nine marks and negates or halves as many incoming contests as he can.
In between, he's composed, gathering 20 possessions. He makes a couple of uncharacteristic errors – he's generally a good ball user and decision maker – but it doesn't bother him; he just gets on with it. He's as cool as Daniher is hot, and a crucial part of an upset Lions victory.
Andrews is 20, and already in the leadership group at the Lions. It doesn't surprise anyone, except perhaps coach Chris Fagan, who has known him for less than a year. "He's a wise head on young shoulders," he said. "He's got a pretty complete game." Asked for where he was looking for improvement, Fagan said: "If you asked him, he'd say probably the offensive side of his game. The defensive side of his game's very, very good, but he's probably looking more to get involved in offence.
Perhaps the key part of Fagan's response is his first four words – "If you asked him ...". I've already asked Andrews, and sure enough, he says the same thing. He prides himself on his ability to play for 120 minutes and for his intercept marking; now he knows the next step is to turn defence into attack.
That's not easy in a side that's used to being belted. But the bigger point is that Andrews is a player who doesn't need to be told – certainly not twice. Lions defensive coach Murray Davis has known Andrews a bit longer than Fagan, first spotting him as an academy junior up against his old side, NT Thunder. The transition to AFL level was swift and it had as much to do with temperament as ability. Davis describes Andrews as someone who built bridges, not only between the Lions' younger and older players, but also to club staff, and not just the coaches. "Sometimes in a footy club environment it can be quite difficult, but I think he's the sort of guy who's just well respected by everyone."
In defence, he's become the organiser. Occasionally you see him lose track of his opponent, but more often than not it's because he's directing his teammates. It's something he's taken upon himself, since Daniel Merrett's retirement last year, sometimes at the expense of his own game. But it's encouraging other players to buy in.
"I guess it's trying to keep everyone on song, directing them to where their man is and just trying to take ownership out there," Andrews said. "We are such a young group, and we've done a pretty good job this year as a group being able to work together." He says he lets talk of him being a future captain wash over him, and well he should. "Hopefully something that he doesn't have to even think about for a while, because you want boys to enjoy their footy when they're younger, and just concentrate on becoming good footballers," Fagan said.
And Andrews seems to enjoy the journey, win or lose, at least in so far as he's clear about the destination. He's a young man in it for the long haul. "I think there's a really clear direction that the club is heading in, and I'm very excited to be a part of that for the future."
Less than a fortnight ago, the Lions were smashed at home by 10 goals by the Giants, Jeremy Cameron and Jonathan Patton taking 24 marks and kicking eight goals between them. Andrews was bloodied that day, but he's never bowed; to come out the following week and break even with Daniher speaks volumes of his character. It's a one-on-one battle we'll see many times in the years ahead, and it will always be worth watching.
He's already at top 5 KPD in the game easily. I'd only take Rance may and lever over him right now. Those 3 are damn good playersBrisbane Lions defender Harris Andrews negating hottest forwards
We really are blessed to have such a committed young man at the club. I have no doubt that Harris will one day captain our club and become an All Australian and one of the best KPD's in the game in the not too distant future.
I think we'll see him start momstering forwards well before then if his current improvement continues!His performances have been extraordinary for a young KPD taking on blokes way more experienced and physically developed than himself.
I can't wait until the tables turn and he is 24 and at the peak of his powers monstering young forward prospects from other clubs and making them cry.
His performances have been extraordinary for a young KPD taking on blokes way more experienced and physically developed than himself.
I can't wait until the tables turn and he is 24 and at the peak of his powers monstering young forward prospects from other clubs and making them cry.
Imagine when the ball comes into our backline that bit slower, it is starting to occur and Andrews, McStay and Gardiner are beginning to really demonstrate their intercept ability and their skill at winning 50/50 contests.Imagine when we actually have more inside 50's than our opposition
Usually we concede 15 - 25 more per game, a massive amount.
This year, we've only won I50 twice; Essendon (H) and Fremantle (H)