Brisbane Lions co-captain Harris Andrews dismisses talk of Las Vegas bonding-trip ‘blow up’ – as football boss Danny Daly denies staging of Good Friday ‘crisis meeting’

Brisbane Lions co-captain Harris Andrews has broken his silence to insist there are no internal tensions at the club, dismissing the impact of an off-season trip to Las Vegas on the club’s poor AFL start.

Last year’s grand finalists are 0-3 ahead of Friday’s Gather Round date with North Melbourne, and the playing group are feeling the heat after reports a few days away following the club’s 2023 success led to a dressing-room rift.

Andrews, who was holidaying in Europe while a small group of teammates went away together in October and November, is confident the squad isn’t divided.

‘Never any tension at all…there’s nothing to be stressed about,’ he said.

‘There’s been a massive blow up [externally] over the last couple of days but as a group we are united, all in this together.

Brisbane Lions football boss Danny Daly was on the same page, on Monday fronted media to deny there had been a ‘crisis meeting’ after the allegations were aired on Friday

‘We can’t control what other people say…..we haven’t had the start we wanted and people go outside the box to think of reasons why we’ve started this way.’

It comes as Lions football boss Danny Daly fronted media on Monday to deny there had been a ‘crisis meeting’ after the allegations were first aired.

On Sunday, a series of ‘compromising photos’ from a WhatsApp chat were confirmed to be at the centre of the saga.

A defiant Daly labelled reporting of the incident ‘poor, insensitive and factually incorrect.’

Daly said he had called co-captains Andrews and Lachie Neale to seek assurances there was no division within the playing group, and insisted no personal relationships had ended because of the trip.

‘It’s been an interesting Easter from the club’s point of view,’ he said.

‘We reached out to our leaders and they reassured us….there is no story.

‘I always trust our playing group, that’s where it finished. ‘The [Vegas] trip has nothing to do with our on-field performance.

‘This group has been through a lot of highs together and a lot of adversity together. 

‘We have full confidence in them.’