ON THREE consecutive Friday nights before Brisbane played elimination finals in 2024, no one mentioned football to Harris Andrews.

While the 29-year-old's mind could have easily been focused on what was to come, he was instead immersed in weekly tutorials as part of his Bachelor of Education degree, sitting in classes remotely to fulfil his course requirements.

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From his Brisbane home and then hotel rooms in Sydney and Melbourne across consecutive weeks during Brisbane's unforgettable finals run, Andrews was required to dial in for a 90-minute class as part of his preparation for his first placement at a school at the end of the season.

Even if it was the night before the biggest game of his life.

"I was doing them in hotel rooms all around the country," Andrews chuckles during an extended chat with AFL.com.au at the cafe that adjoins Brisbane's training base at Springfield's Brighton Homes Arena.

"There's strict rulings around attending tutorials because universities have a responsibility to make sure you're well prepared.

"The only tutorial I could get to was on a Friday night ... that meant I was doing them before all our finals in that 2024 run."

Even in a city that is dominated by rugby league – albeit slightly less so than it was two years ago – Andrews stands out.

The Lions had been to the previous year's decider, losing in heartbreaking fashion to Collingwood, and in many ways, he was the face of the team. Standing two metres tall, he was - and still is - the poster boy for Brisbane's Academy, having played his junior footy at Aspley before transitioning from a lightly scouted key forward to one of the best defenders this century.

He is the quintessential local boy made good, having completed his education at Aspley State School and Padua College on Brisbane's northside.

He is hard to miss in a room, or on a laptop screen.

"To be fair, all the other people in my class were great," he says. "They never mentioned anything about footy. We'd just get to work."

But having kept the focus firmly on teaching ahead of those first three memorable finals, the class on Grand Final eve became too much for one of Andrews' fellow students.

"We were in our breakout groups and were doing our activities ... and we were just about to go back into the main Teams room and one of the blokes said, 'By the way, mate, best of luck for tomorrow'," he says.

"He'd gone the whole term without mentioning anything about it and obviously wanted to pass on his best wishes. It was nice. Really respectful."

***

Although football is a major part of his identity, it is not everything for Andrews.

Teaching is a passion; in the classroom, in the dressing room and at junior football clubs, where he speaks about a subject far more important than football (we'll get to that later).

He has one seven-week practical placement at the end of this year to finish his degree and become a fully-fledged secondary school HPE (Health and Physical Education) and psychology teacher. To date, the ventures into the classroom, always post-football season, have been a reality check.

"It makes me appreciate the job we've got as footballers and athletes. It's pretty easy in comparison (to non-athletes) to be totally honest with you," he says.

"I had a three-week placement a couple of years ago through November, so I was doing what everyone else does; go for a run in the morning, go to the gym in the afternoon after school. Three weeks of that and I was cooked.

"It gives me a little bit of perspective to understand how lucky I am to be in the job I'm in. There's challenges in high-performance sport, but we really live the dream."

His interest in psychology is something that has grown over time, particularly surrounding sport and the pressures of performance, which he has come to know all too well over the past decade.

"Motivation is a huge part of what makes guys around you tick," he says. "What works for different players isn't going to work for others in the way you speak to them. There's definitely been some transferrable skills (from teaching to football)."

Andrews the footballer was a slow burn having not been a star as a junior. But much like his journey through education, he has improved bit by bit.

He kicked 80 goals for Aspley's Colts as a 17-year-old and was only then placed into the Lions' Academy as he entered his draft year in 2014. A gangly forward who had gone through a recent growth spurt, he made the Queensland under-18 team and had his big breakthrough in a TAC Cup game against Geelong following the national championships when he was thrown into defence. He marked everything and, for the first time, turned the heads of a few recruiters.

At the end of the year, North Melbourne placed a second-round bid on the Queenslander at the draft and Brisbane swiftly matched it, giving up just pick No.61, a mere pittance for a man who would become a dual premiership captain.

From the moment he walked into the struggling Lions, he set about improving. He played 19 games in his first season in 2015, earning a Rising Star nomination, and then 17 the year after to entrench himself as a long-term player.

Shortly after Chris Fagan arrived as coach ahead of the 2017 season, Andrews reached another defining moment in his life. Still just 20, not only did he volunteer to house new draftees Hugh McCluggage and Jarrod Berry at a time when player retention was a major issue for the club, he crossed paths with a couple that would give him a new perspective on life.

Carolyn and Craig Robinson were a host family that also accommodated draftees for the club, and Andrews got to know them when he would visit to check in on some of his young teammates. The Robinsons had recently supported their daughter after she had been subjected to domestic violence, and the experience ignited a desire in Andrews to help women and children rebuild their lives after such traumatic events.

In late 2017, the Robinsons registered Beyond DV, a not-for-profit charity created to empower and support women and children and encourage collaboration between organisations to raise awareness around domestic and family violence.

So moved was Andrews by the Robinsons' story, he is now one of the charity's ambassadors.

"It's a horrible part of what's happening in society. I think there's a responsibility as athletes, because we do have an elevated presence in society," he says. "You don't want to just be Harris Andrews, the footballer. You want to make the world a better place.

"How can I play a role in that? I'm not going to be on the front lines, like police, rocking up to homes where domestic violence is occurring. (But) if I can help young guys learn about respectful relationships and consent and relationships with women and girls, I feel like I'm having an impact.

"It's something I'm very proud to be a part of."

Involvement comes in many forms for Andrews. He visits care centres to speak with families who are there to help each other through their recovery. Those morning teas can include having a chat, or simply kicking the footy with children to provide a small moment of joy at a difficult time.

Primarily, he is about education. Beyond DV has developed an app, Ask a Mate, designed to help young people better understand healthy relationships. Along with Andrews there are other sports stars, including Collingwood skipper Darcy Moore, media personalities and professionals who have recorded answers to questions about relationships. Whether it's a question about consent, gender, domestic or sexual violence, you can find a response.

Andrews also goes to local football clubs for education sessions, with the "impressionable" 10-18 age group his target audience.

"The way young blokes are, they're quite often afraid to ask questions in an environment with lots of other people and are worried (about) what they're thinking," he says.

"I can go to a local football club and have young guys that love football, that watch me on the screen every week, and I can explain to them that the way I play on the field every week - physical, dominant, try and be tough at times - isn't the same way I am off the field and the way I interact with people and the women around me.

"I'm sensitive and I can be vulnerable and not feel uncomfortable being that way. That's where I feel I play my part; the opportunity to try and change the attitudes of young guys.

"As a charity, we're trying to educate young guys (about) what respectful relationships look like, what consent looks like.

"I've gone down to footy clubs to talk about the importance of sexism and how important it is to call it out when you see it, and the different strategies with how to call it out because one shoe doesn't fit everybody. Some people are going to feel more comfortable calling it out straight away when they see it in the change rooms. Others might feel more comfortable grabbing them after and saying, 'what do you reckon, should we be saying that?'.

"As much as everything I do on the field is awesome and good fun, having an impact off the field and in the community is of high value to me."

***

If he isn't already, Andrews is just three wins away from becoming a Lions icon.

Having guided the Lions to back to back flags, the next month could see him join arguably Brisbane's greatest ever player, Michael Voss, in leading the club to a third straight premiership.

And as ever, he is leading from the front. After missing three games due to suspension following Opening Round, Andrews has put together another brilliant individual season, earning himself a fourth All-Australian jacket last week.

Since 2000, only Matthew Scarlett (six), Alex Rance and Jeremy McGovern (five each) have more among key defenders. Andrews concedes he used to be focused on outside recognition, but as he's aged, that is no longer the case.

"If you asked me five years ago, I would have said yeah. When you get into the AFL all you're worried about is trying to play a game. Then your attention shifts to being the best player in my position in the league," he says.

"Then (I got) to a point six to seven years ago where I reckon my attention shifted from it being all well and good to get individual accolades, but ultimately, it's the team success you want. Now it's all about team success.

"In 20 years' time, people aren't going to be coming to the pub to sit down and talk about my All-Australian years. They're going to sitting around talking about the premiership years.

"That's all it's about at the moment for me. I just want to win games of football and see how far we can go."

A small part of Brisbane's recent dominance has been the now-famous celebrations that follow small defensive acts. Whether it's Andrews crashing a pack to spoil a ball out of bounds, Sam Draper getting back to fist a high ball through for a behind or Darcy Wilmot smothering a kick, the fists go in the air and the high fives follow.

"It's definitely something we as a backline have wanted to buy into," Andrews says. "It came off the back of (defensive coach) Dale Morris. He's a great guy who loves to appreciate and acknowledge the small parts of our game.

"Everyone gets drafted into the AFL off the back of offence and the way they play with the ball in hand. Defending and smothers and tackles and spoils is not a sexy part of the game, but I feel like the more we highlight it, the more we can celebrate it, the more guys around you are going to want to do it. You put a price on that.

"That's something I've wanted to establish the last couple of years, the significance of those little things ... they all add up and help you win big games. Darcy Wilmot, 'Dizzy' (Darcy Gardiner), the backs get around it. We've been celebrating it for the best part of two or three years.

"Things that get celebrated become culture and you want to promote those things. I love nothing more than seeing my teammates do well, so I want to celebrate that."

Starting with Sydney at the SCG on Saturday afternoon, the path to a historic three-peat of premierships is clear; three wins equals a third flag and AFL immortality alongside the Lions side that did the same more than two decades ago.

It's a shot at history that Andrews and his teammates are not afraid to chase.

"Just before the 2023 finals, we had a reunion as a club and a big function and I remember some of the ex-Lions that played in that (2001-2003) era were really excited by the opportunity to try and welcome us into the group of premiership players," he says.

"We didn't get it done in '23, but it was something I was excited by. To win '24 and to see just how happy guys like 'Blacky' and 'Browny' (Simon Black and Jonathan Brown), who are legends of the footy club, were to see their club thriving again, is something I hold very close to my heart.

"For us, process is everything, but at the same time you've got to understand where you're at.

"As a group I feel like we've built really well through the season. We've had plenty of lessons through the year. When we lost three in a row (round 10-12), you feel like your whole world is caving in a little bit. We've still got a lot of room for improvement, but there's not many times you can say you've won the last two premierships and you are potentially going for a third.

"Thinking about it is not going to harm my performance. I'm someone that is very locked in (on) trying to improve and focusing on what I can control. That's how I prepare to get myself ready to go.

"Seeing what that team did in the early 2000s is definitely something you aspire to be a part of."

Whether the Lions can reach immortality at the end of the month is yet to be seen. But even if they fall short, Andrews' legacy is secure.

And his impact has already stretched far beyond the premiership dais.