WHILE most of his young teammates are begging for a break, Brisbane defender Harris Andrews isn't so sure he wants this weekend's bye.
Andrews is making a case for selection in the Virgin Australia AFL All Australian squad, with his past three weeks as good as any defender in the game.
After being instrumental in a round nine win over Hawthorn, Andrews' season really took off the following week, recording a record number of spoils (23) against Sydney on a wet Brisbane night.
Against North Melbourne in round 11, the 21-year-old kept Coleman Medal frontrunner Ben Brown to just two goals despite his team being routed, and against Essendon on Sunday, Andrews was clearly best on ground.
His 24 disposals, including 12 marks – six of them contested – sat nicely alongside another 20 spoils in a complete full-back's game.
With the Lions 1-11 and some of its 20-and-under talent looking a little tired, Andrews was hesitant to say whether he wanted the week off or not.
"I thought about that," he said on Tuesday morning.
"The last couple of weeks I've been lucky enough to play some good football and I feel I might not want to miss a week, but at the same time it'll be good to let the body relax and get away from it."
Andrews is wise beyond his years, and despite having just 70 games alongside his name, has comfortably stepped into the vice-captaincy shoes following Dayne Beams' decision to take time away from the leadership group.
The Lions Academy product said he looked up to Alex Rance and Jeremy McGovern to improve his game.
"I spend a lot of time watching their footage, just trying to pick up little things," he said.
"They've been performing at such a high level over the last few years, you'd be silly not to have a watch."
Brisbane did a light skills session on Tuesday morning and will train again on Wednesday before the players are given four days off.