How footy fan faked a family emergency to play 1am practical joke on Lions star Harris Andrews as he tried to sleep before grand final
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 countless ways fans can try to get under the skin of players ahead of big games in the modern era, they decided to go for the old-fashioned joke – with some degree of success.
Hawks and Lions legend Luke Hodge has revealed a footy fan called the Lions hotel at night and told reception there was an illness in the Brisbane co-captain’s family and he wasn’t answering his phone – and was put through to Andrews’ room.
When he answered, the fan told him, “You’re not taking any intercept marks today!”
Andrews is one of the best defenders in the game and is the Lions’ interception king – so it’s likely the fan will be proven wrong.
Hodge had a stellar career with the Hawks, playing 305 games and winning four premierships, three of them as captain.
Harris Andrews may have had a disturbed night’s sleep after a fan jokingly called him on the eve of the AFL Grand Final
Former Hawk and Lion Luke Hodge revealed the prank after lashing the preliminary final referees for their performances during the week
He was also a two-time Norm Smith Medal winner and three-time All Australian before ending his career in Brisbane, where he made 41 appearances.
During the week, Hodge was heavily critical of the referees in the preliminary final between Collingwood and GWS – with three of those officials axed in the decider.
‘It will be interesting to see how many of those referees get a job next week. If you go through a lot of those missed free-kicks, 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 have brought in an extra referee to make sure we don’t miss anything.
‘We have referees overruling from 70 yards out three weeks ago, but when it comes to a prelim, when one point causes a win or loss and a season ends for a team, and the referees leave the whistle.
“A lot of those decisions were pathetic.”
Of the four referees who officiated the GWS and Collingwood preliminary finals, only Simon Meredith earned a place in the grand final.
He is joined by Matt Stevic, Hayden Gavine and Robert Findlay.