A Collingwood fan has pulled off one of the oldest pranks in the book to try to disrupt the Brisbane Lions ahead of the 2023 AFL Grand Final.
While there are plenty of ways for fans to try and put themselves in players’ shoes before big games in the modern era, one way they decided to go for the old-fashioned prank school – with some success.
Hawks and Lions legend Luke Hodge has revealed a footy fan called the Lions hotel overnight, telling reception there was an illness in the Brisbane co-captain’s family and that he wasn’t answering his phone – and was put through to Andrews’ room.
When he picked up, the fan told him, “You’re not taking any interceptions today!”
Andrews is one of the best key defenders in the game and is the Lions’ interception king – so it’s likely fans are wrong.
Hodge had a distinguished career with the Hawks, playing 305 matches and winning four premierships, including three as captain.
Harris Andrews may have had a disturbed night’s sleep after a fan managed to jokingly call him on the eve of the AFL grand final.
Former Hawk and Lion Luke Hodge revealed the prank, after blasting the preliminary final referees for their performances during the week.
He also won the Norm Smith Medal twice and All Australian three times, before finishing his career at Brisbane where he made 41 appearances.
During the week, Hodge heavily criticized the referees during the preliminary final between Collingwood and GWS – with three of those officials being knocked out for the decider.
“It will be interesting to see how many of these referees find employment next week. If you go through a lot of these free kicks that were missed, they won’t be at the MCG,” Hodge told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“I’m not being harsh on them, but this is a preliminary final where we bring in an extra referee to make sure we don’t miss anything.
“We have referees calling it off at 70 yards three weeks ago, but then when it comes to a round robin, when one point results in a win or loss and a season to end for a team, the referees blow the whistle.
“A lot of these decisions were pathetic.”
Of the four referees who officiated at the GWS and Collingwood preliminary finals, only Simon Meredith earned a place in the grand final.
He was joined by Matt Stevic, Hayden Gavine and Robert Findlay.
