The 254-game Lions skipper Harris Andrews is a future Hall of Famer who should be in the conversation for 2026 All-Australian captain.
As much as there is no denying the claims of Adelaide’s Jordan Dawson and Melbourne’s Max Gawn as contenders for the green blazer with the gold star to designate the ‘captain’, Andrews is an equally worthy contender.
If the Lions were to complete ‘mission impossible’ and win another flag he’d be a three-time premiership captain like 2001-02-03 Brisbane skipper Michael Voss.
How could he not be in the conversation?
Andrews, vice-captain from 2018-22 before assuming the top job, delivered the competition a timely reminder last weekend when he led the Brisbane Lions to a 24-point win over West Coast in Perth – their sixth win in a row.
It was hard work against the battling but improved Eagles, but Andrews was best afield. He made sure his side didn’t drop a game which would have undone the superb work of the Round 16-17 wins over Sydney and Geelong.
Andrews picked up the maximum 10 votes in the AFL Coach’s Association Player of the Year Award for his 22 possessions (10 contested), 10 intercept possessions, 12 marks (five contested) and nine one-percenters.
His player rating of 18.1 was second only to Lachie Neale’s 22.4, and his second-best of the year behind only his 20.6 in the Round 6 loss to Melbourne, when his leadership qualities again showed out.
Despite playing in an unfashionable role in the heart of the defence, Andrews has finished top 10 in the Lions best & fairest 11 years in a row from 2015 – 8th-10th-8th-5th-10th-6th-6th-4th-1st-7th-4th.
He was All-Australian in 2019-20-25 and a member of the All-Australian squad in 2018-23-24. And he’s still only 29.
Will Ashcroft polled six votes in the coach’s award for his 32 possessions and seven clearances against the Eagles, while Charlie Cameron’s statistics of nine possessions and two goals didn’t do him justice – he had six score involvements and 21 pressure acts – and his player rating of 16.1 was behind only Neale, Andrews and West Coast’s Jobe Shanahan (17.6).
Ty Gallop continued his run of good form, playing 92% game time – behind only Andrews (96%) and Zac Bailey (95%) – and keeping #1 dangerman Jake Waterman in check for much of the game.
Port Adelaide’s Aliir Aliir was the other Queenslander in the votes – he received one in their gritty 28-point loss to ladder leaders Fremantle at Adelaide Oval.
Also impressive was StKilda’s mid-season pick-up Campbell Lake. In his sixth game against Geelong at Kardinia Park he had 17 possessions and a goal, plus a team-high eight tackles, two clearances and a team-high two goal assists. And all in just 64% game time.
North Melbourne’s Bailey Scott had 18 possessions, five tackles and four score involvements in his first AFL game of the season against Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.
Zeke Uwland continued his run of good form for the Suns, picking up 26 possessions in their disappointing loss to the Bulldogs. Brother Bodhi also battled hard with 24 possessions, while Leo Lombard had 13 possessions, two goals, five tackles and a team-high seven score involvements.
