Back To News
Purpose, community, travel and two Paralympic gold medals. After 212 games for Australia over more than a decade and a half, Steelers wheelchair rugby player Andrew Harrison has so much to be proud of as he announces his retirement from the sport.
“As much as we say the gold medals are the pinnacle, I think the huge achievement is that all Paralympic athletes have overcome a disability first to be able to represent the country,” the man known as ‘Harro’ said.
“Being able to represent Australia at any competition is bigger than winning gold medals. You’ve already succeeded in a way because you’ve put that green and gold on your back and you’ve gone in there to represent the whole country.”
Harrison leaves the game in a better place than when he started, first playing for Victoria about six months after he acquired quadriplegia in a diving accident when he was 17. After winning his state’s Rookie of the Year award, Steelers coach Brad Dubberley called-up Harrison who became a permanent fixture in the side, the highlights of which were the Paralympic Games triumphs in 2012 and 2016, as well as World Championship silver medals in 2010 and 2018.
“It was certainly a hard decision to make to hang the boots up after having such a great career with the Steelers,” he said. “But unfortunately, I wasn’t selected for Worlds this year and I thought this is the time for some of the newer players to step up and fill that role.”
Dubberley paid tribute to Harrison for his immense effort with the Steelers.
“I am really appreciative and thankful for all of Harro’s contributions to our program,” Dubberley said. “I’m very proud of him and what he achieved at the elite level of our sport.
“He first played for our Australian Team in 2007 and was an important part of some of our most successful teams at major events over the years. He will forever be part of our Australian Steelers family.”
Harrison also has a family closer to home, wife Lisa and young son Jack, whom he wanted to thank for their support, as well as Dubberley for his guidance and friendship and his early teammates at Victorian Thunder.
“After my accident I was in rehab and not 100 percent sure what I was going to do with my life,” he said. “I was introduced to wheelchair rugby and from that moment I was hooked and couldn’t get enough of it.
“I think after having an accident like that, it gave me some purpose. Once you have an accident, your whole life changes and, to have sport as a way to socialise and be involved in the community – you’re hanging around with mates that you play sport with and you get up every morning looking forward to going into training. I’ve been to countries around the world playing, it’s been a fantastic period in my life and I always tried to represent Australia in the best way I could.”
Harrison plans to continue studying building design and wants to help people with disabilities design homes that suit their needs.
By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 9 November 2022
