Collingwood Forever

Ex-Redan player who was a tremendous Essendon favorite. Andrews, the son of a policeman, played at Heathmont as a youngster before his father was posted at Ballarat and the family moved there in his early teens. He was tied to Essendon because of the Heathmont connection. Andrews established himself as one of the most feared defenders of his era despite a severe knee injury early in his career in 1978 which had a long term effect on his running and turning ability. In a young and lightly built side Andrews, a rough and ready footballer, was the enforcer for his team and was a frequent visitor to VFL House for Tribunal hearings and missed a total of 24 weeks through suspension. His bout with South Melbourne’s Stewie Gull at Windy Hill was a classic confrontation and a boxing promoter even tried to get the pair to don the gloves in the ring. Andrews suffered a number of injuries during his career, with the main ones being a damaged knee and a bad neck injury in a car accident in 1980 that seriously reduced his effectiveness. A strong mark, he usually opted to punch the ball clear when possible. He was reported in the first week of the 1983 finals and missed the preliminary final through suspension then didn’t regain his place for the Grand Final, only being told at 8 am on the morning of the Grand Final that he would be playing in the reserves. He crossed to Collingwood and in his last game for the Magpies was in a side slaughtered by his old team, but kicked three of their five goals for the day. He was Bomber skipper for part of the 1982 season and represented Victoria in 1977 and 1978.