Probably the best best man speech in the world...

John Harris:

It is a challenge to give an insight into the character of a man who enjoys a facial as much as a game of Rugby, but I will give it my best.

In 1988 in one of my first maths classes at Sydney Boys High School I turned around and introduced myself to the kid behind me. He was a tall bloke – one of the biggest in our year. However whatever shreds of DNA Kathy & Neil could muster between them that would promote growth beyond the age of twelve obviously went to Brett – Andrew parked at a height of 5’8”.

Soon Andrew’s better qualities of enthusiasm, loyalty, generosity and an ability to see the best in everything became apparent to me and these qualities remain intact today.

Our maths teacher had soon anointed Andrew as the future School Captain, Dux and a certainty for the 1st XV. Whilst Andrew did not fulfill these prophecies he did go on to compete in many sports and variously charm and frustrate teachers – often depending on whether he choose to attend their classes.

A couple of anecdotes about Andrew’s sporting endeavours will perhaps give an insight into Andrew’s level of passion and enthusiasm.

When the Olympics rolled into Sydney in 2000 Andrew bought tickets to as many events as he could get his hands on, surely setting some sort of record for attendance. I think he was only outdone by a couple of members of the IOC. He was quite taken with the whole Olympic thing & decided that he himself should compete in the next ones. He got a list of sports and went down the list looking for something he could qualify in…. Looking down the list the answer was obvious – Table Tennis.
Andrew had spent a large portion of his years at University playing ping pong with Neil rather than actually attending classes and had therefore established a solid base for his goal.
The next step was to find a coach. After getting in touch with the NSW table tennis association he found one out at Dural – his enthusiasm for a tilt at Athens lasted about 4 sessions before the drive to Dural become too far and ping pong was placed on the back burner.

More recently, after a brief return to tennis which included buying Rafael Nadal Shoes, socks, shorts, shirt, sweatband, hat and one of those massive racket bags that the pros carry 5 or 6 rackets in, Andrew’s sporting energy has been turned to Cycling. Soon after taking up cycling Andrew had declared the bike shop to be one of his favourite places and was regularly clearing their stock of both DVDs and power bars on each trip in there. With full matching black & yellow Lance Armstrong Nike cycling gear he certainly looks the part and whilst the dream of playing for the Wallabies must now be all but extinguished I am sure he has not entirely given up hope of competing in the Tour de France.

Whilst Andrew’s practical skills can be extremely limited – things like changing light bulbs and getting air out of pumps and into tires are well behind his abilities his organizational skills are a strength. Whether it is organizing touch football games, a meal out with mates or a waitress to bring drinks over to a group of friends Andrew is at his best. This skill and the effort he makes to stay in touch with everyone goes some way to explaining the large number of friends he has remained in touch with from each phase of his life..

The first I heard of Sandy was in an email from Andrew after she had been hired by Optiver. I have dug it out of the archives – it reads – Tony has done some of his finest work. He has hired an extremely hot accountant. Over time I heard more & more about Sandy. Now sometimes Andrew’s enthusiasms have to be taken with a grain of salt but in this case they appeared well founded.

A beautiful intelligent girl with a healthy dose of determination & smarts was and is a perfect match for Andrew. Alex & I also feel lucky to call Sandy a friend, apart from her fabulous English Roast Dinners & Sri Lankan feasts her fun nature and kind heart make her great company.

I wish you all the best for your future together – it is truly yours to make what you want out of it.