"How many spoils did he have tonight? Did he have a lot of spoils?"
Brisbane Lions Coach Chris Fagan followed his somewhat-rhetorical post-match question on Saturday – complete with a grin – about his 21-year-old defender by rustling through his notes to confirm just how many.
"Spoils, Harris Andrews, 23 – that could be a world record," Fagan said.
Fagan was spot on. Andrews' 23 were two more than previous equal record-holders Josh Gibson and Dougal Howard.
The game against Sydney also equalled the record for the most spoils by a team, with the Lions recording 67 spoils in total to match Port Adelaide's performance in Round 18, 2016.
The modern AFL playing style encourages backmen to go for intercept marks, but, as the coach pointed out himself, Andrews might have marked more often than spoiled on a dry night.
He earned himself an AFL Coaches' Association vote in part because of that record-breaking effort, but that is just one measure of the 201cm Lion's effectiveness.
No one who has played more than one match this year has spent a higher percentage of time on the field than Andrews' 97.5.
The kid from Aspley, who joined Brisbane at pick 63 as an Academy selection four years ago, was equal-fourth in the same category in 2017.
Andrews became the Lions' undoubted main man down back last year and won 40
He has also transitioned into a more offensive player, winning a career-high 16.1 disposals (at 84.5
