‘Critical’: What made Lions skipper player he is

Even as the poster child for the success of the Brisbane Lions Academy system, Harris Andrews said he “would have laughed” if someone told him as a 16-year-old he’d play 200 games.

Now the Lions co-captain is hitting the milestone, the first Lions academy product to do so, he lauded the investment made into high-quality coaching for juniors in the Sunshine State as a key for the AFL’s continued growth.

It comes as the league mulls changes to the points system that could impact the ability of clubs like the Lions and Gold Coast Suns to keep control of their academy players in the draft, changes Brisbane will object to.

Andrews was playing underage football for Aspley in Queensland and “loving it” before being inserted into the Brisbane academy in 2013. He was drafted months later as a different player to the one who entered.

“It was something I hadn’t experienced. I probably hadn’t had high-level coaching, the opportunity to review games on tape – as a footy head I chewed that up as a 17-year-old,” he said on Tuesday.

“I felt that was an environment I just wanted to keep getting better.

“To see so many great products come out of not only the Brisbane academy but the other three academies … is something that is critical coming from states where football isn’t necessarily the No.1 sport.”

Andrews said he was inspired to make the most of his chance at the Lions academy after seeing an Anzac Day game at the MCG as a teenage Bombers supporter.

“I remember sitting in the stands thinking, ‘Geez, that would be pretty awesome to be out there’,” Andrews said ahead of his milestone game against Port Adelaide on Saturday.

“It was probably at that stage that I thought if I want to make this happen, I’ve got to do something about it.

“I was loving playing at Aspley, then the opportunity arose to be part of the academy … and I really enjoyed that environment.

“If you’d said to me at 16 that I’d get to game 200 in the AFL, I probably would have laughed at you.”

Those ambitions have shifted dramatically since his arrival at the club, and having missed on the ultimate success in last year’s heartbreaking grand final defeat, Andrews said all his focus now was less about himself and more about making the Lions the best team possible.

With only six wins from the opening 13 games, the task is in front of Brisbane just to make the eight, but Andrews is adamant they can get there having stormed to big wins over St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs in the past two games.

“The vibe has been great all year. We haven’t really had many fluctuations in vibe at the club. I think clearly the results haven’t been necessarily as great as we’d like them to be, but I can’t complain about the energy or the vibe within the boys,” he said.

“Everyone’s just focused on trying to improve. We’re really trying to emphasise making the most out of each session. I feel like it’s nice to get some reward in the win column over the last couple of weeks, but as a group we’re really process driven, we’re not too concerned about results, we just want to keep improving and make sure that our process is done well.”