deal canceled: Harris Andrews has terminate a two-year $700,000 million contract extension offered by the Brisbane lions after….

Brisbane milestone man Harris Andrews recalls how watching an Anzac Day clash between Collingwood and Essendon over a decade ago altered his career trajectory.

At 16, Andrews, a devoted football fan, traveled to Melbourne in 2013 to watch his beloved Bombers defeat the Magpies before a crowd of over 93,000.

At that point, Andrews was playing junior football for Aspley and had not yet caught the attention of the Brisbane Academy or Queensland selectors.

“I remember sitting in the stands thinking, ‘Wow, it would be amazing to be out there’,” Andrews reminisced ahead of his 200th game against Port Adelaide on Saturday.

“It was probably then that I realized if I wanted to make it happen, I needed to take action.

“I loved playing at Aspley, and when the chance to join the Academy came up, I embraced it and really enjoyed the environment.

“If someone had told me at 16 that I’d reach 200 games in the AFL, I probably would have laughed.”

Later in 2013, Andrews joined the Lions Academy, thrived at the national under-18 championships the following year, and was drafted a few months later.

“It was something new for me; I hadn’t experienced high-level coaching or the chance to review games on tape. As a football enthusiast, I absorbed it all as a 17-year-old,” he said.

“I wanted to keep improving in that environment.

“Seeing many great talents emerge from not only the Brisbane Academy but the other three academies is crucial in states where football isn’t the top sport.”

Andrews is the first player from any northern Academy to reach the 200-game milestone.

Now 27, he is firmly established as one of the best key defenders in the competition. The Lions’ co-captain aims to win a premiership, but he highlights the club’s transformation from an easybeat to a contender as the highlight of his career.

“As a club, we’ve developed our own identity and earned respect in the competition. When I first arrived, there weren’t many clubs that viewed us the way they do now,” he said.