Brisbane Lions co-captain Harris Andrew rejects calls for extra time to decide regular season draws

Two points from their battle with the Adelaide Crows was “better than zero” for the Brisbane Lions.

Harris Andrews (centre) and the Lions had to settle for a draw in Adelaide. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

Brisbane Lions co-captain Harris Andrews wants “quirky” drawn games to remain during the AFL regular season, saying extra time should only be used when necessary during finals matches.

Andrews admitted on Monday he was still feeling “weird” after his team’s 90-90 draw with the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Sunday night.

It was the second draw of the AFL season after Essendon and Collingwood’s Anzac Day clash finished at 85 apiece.

“It’s hard to express your emotions and know how to feel after a game that both teams come away with two points from,” Andrew said.

“I guess two points is better than zero points but not quite as good as four.”

Despite calls for extra time to be introduced during the regular season to ensure there is a winner and a loser in every match, Andrews doesn’t want draws scrapped.

“I’m happy to walk away with two points,” he said.

“It’s pretty taxing game and they don’t come up all too often, the draws.

“Clearly in finals you want to have a result but during the season, it’s a little bit quirky, and I don’t mind them (draws).”

FT with our first draw since 2009. pic.twitter.com/rN3p7YpaNe

— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) May 12, 2024

However, having already lost five times this season, the Lions – who host Richmond at the Gabba on Saturday night – were desperate for a win.

And victory seemed well within their grasp after kicking the first three goals of the final quarter to lead by 18 points.

But the Crows then responded in the seesawing contest with four straight goals of their own to lead by six points.

Callum Ah Chee’s fourth goal of the contest then levelled scores before each side kicked a behind to share the four points.

“We would have loved to finish the game a little bit better, and being three goals up at one stage was nice … but they got momentum, (and) we had momentum,” Andrews said.

“It’s probably just execution from us as players out on the ground. We all knew what we needed to do.

“It wasn’t as if we were three goals up with two minutes to go, it was three goals up with 20 minutes to go. That’s a lot of time if you’re trying to go into a save-the-game situation.

“I’m sure that there’ll be a lot of conversation around that this week, but from a performance perspective, I thought the effort was there and as a group, it’s going to be a great learning experience for us.

“It would have been nice to walk out of Adelaide Oval with four points but we’ll take the two and make sure we turn up well on Saturday night.”