Past Jason Akermanis (1995-2006)

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Jason Akermanis: A Lions man through and through

Among all the unforgettable moments of the Brisbane Lions premiership hat-trick one moment is as vivid as any … the clutch goal which clinched the 2002 grand final against Collingwood. It was a classic piece of Jason Akermanis wizardry. Responding to a message from coach Leigh Matthews to ‘get to the front’, he crumbed the ball beautifully off Alastair Lynch, steadied, and snapped brilliantly over his shoulder on his left foot.

It was typical Akermanis. The sort of mercurial individual effort which was the trademark of a player known for his freakish football talents. Blindingly quick, with an incredible goal sense, he kicked the ball as well as anyone in the game’s history on his non-preferred foot. So well, in fact, that many wouldn’t know which was his natural foot.

In a Lions team full of inside ball-winners and competitive ‘hard nuts’, he was the icing on the team cake. Simply, he made them even better. A favourite with Lions fans, he was blessed with an astonishing ability to make the difficult look simple. Even handstands.

He worked his special brand of magic through 248 games and 12 years at the Lions, kicking 307 goals and winning three premierships, four All-Australian selections, the 2001 Brownlow Medal, two club championships, International Rules selection and a Jim Stynes Medal.

A product of the Mayne Tigers and now coaching in Albury, he was the second Queenslander behind Marcus Ashcroft to play 300 AFL games and holds the Queensland AFL games record at 325 after four years at the Western Bulldogs to finish out his career.

But ask him today and he’ll tell you he’s a Lions man through and through. He’s a proud Lions Life Member and now a member of the Lions Hall of Fame.
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Akermanis - brilliant footballer, entertainer and someone to listen to when he is talking about what he knows best, football. One of the greatest among the greats in the Hall of Fame.
 

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MacMum said:
What does this one say Dylan12 ? Anything about Aker interests me.
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It was a link to the podcast with Jono Brown contained in this link:

Browny's Premiership Reunion: Akermanis and Lappin
Jason Akermanis was a larger than life character, with the skills to match during the Brisbane Lions’ era of premiership dominance.

“Aker” was part of the Lions’ supreme midfield combination dubbed the “Fab Four”, which included himself, Simon Black, Michael Voss and Nigel Lappin.

He was a crowd favourite with his handstands following wins and his striking bleached blonde hair. Aker was undeniably talented, being able to kick on both feet and speedy. But he could be a divisive character, regularly clashing with Senior Coach Leigh Matthews.

“I never had a Dad or anything like that, so all my coaches were my Dads. And poor Leigh he had to be the Dad and he had to be perfect,” he said. “Now having been a coach, I can see what he was talking about many times over.”

Aker reflected on his career to former teammate Jonathan Brown, on his podcast Browny’s Premiership Reunion. “With Leigh I know we particularly disagreed on the media. He didn’t really like the media… he would play them for fools mostly,” he said. “But when it was me coming in and becoming very well known throughout Queensland and then eventually in the southern states…Leigh couldn’t control that.”

Akermanis, unlike most of his teammates, grew up in Brisbane and understood AFL needed to build its profile in Queenslander. He enjoyed and encouraged the spotlight and explained this to Matthews.

“Our sport needs this, it doesn’t have a voice. It only has you and if the players don’t talk, they don’t come to watch you, they come to watch us…Leigh said ‘I think you might have a point here’." “All of a sudden we were on every channel, radio, in the print newspaper. That was fantastic for our sport.”

After Matthews relaxed with players working with media outlets, Akermanis introduced his iconic winning celebration. In the 1999 season, if the Lions won, he would do a handstand in front of supporters.

“Leigh was sort of like all of us, like ‘what was that’, like ‘what the hell is this’? And the crowd was like ‘I’m not sure about this stuff.’ And even I was like ‘oh I don’t know how I’m going to get this through,’” Akermanis said.

He persevered with the handstands which fans soon grew to love but Matthews never said a word. “He never mentioned it. He never ever made comments, did anything about it,” Akermanis said.

That changed mid-2002 when the Lions were in a form slump as they were trying to defend their maiden premiership from the year before. “Leigh comes over before the game, he walks past me and says as cool as a cucumber, as he always was, he said, ‘I want to see you do a handstand today.’ Everyone knew what it meant,” he said. “That was the coolest thing to me. I’ll never forget that. God it was wonderful.”

The Lions managed to reach a consecutive Grand Final, this time against Collingwood. The team were well prepared heading into the match and were favourites. “Aker” was feeling confident ahead of the first bounce but that changed 30 seconds later. The Pies’ Ben Johnson hit him from behind, pushing him onto the wet, uneven groud. He ripped his right adductor, on the pelvis, off the bone.

“It was horrible. I couldn’t run. Lucky I had my left boot. All those years came in handy.” It was that left boot which sealed a Lions victory that afternoon. On the advice of Matthews, Akermanis pushed forward to kick a snap goal with less five minutes to go, pushing the Lions lead to nine points.

“It going through, everything you’d ever want, from the message from Lethal, to the 30 years I’ve practiced right foot, left foot; left foot, right foot all day, out on the ground, whenever. It finally came in handy and we won the match,” Akermanis said.
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Voss should be Suns coach: Aker
During the Brisbane Lions’ premiership era in the early 2000s, there was no more colourful member of the playing group than Jason Akermanis.

In this week’s edition of Sunday Session, Akermanis tells Andrew Hamilton about what separates the great from the good, why he thinks Michael Voss should be the next Suns coach and why he still blames AFL House for costing the Lions the 2004 flag.

HAMILTON: I guess this time of year brings back happy memories for you?

AKERMANIS: Of course, but it also comes with a lot of empathy for teams that try to get in and can’t. Everyone works really hard to get there but plenty of clubs and players never get the chance. When I look back at the teams I played in, I think about the hard work and the stress that comes with success, that’s why you cherish it forever. It is not something handed to you, it is hard earned and it is stressful.

AH: What is the memory about Brisbane’s three-peat of premierships between 2001-03 that stands above the rest?

JA: It is 2002. In ‘01 we were riding a wave, we were flogging sides in the back half of games and we were the surprise-packets of the competition, even if we hadn’t surprised ourselves. But we didn’t really know any better, we were just on a roll and I guess the pressure wasn’t there. But in 2002 when we dominated all year and to have Collingwood come out and play so well in the Grand Final and nearly cost us. If we had lost that game (coach) Leigh (Matthews) reckons people would have said we were old and slow and history might remember us differently. No one says that now. So you can see how close it is between ultimate success and failure. This time of the year I often wonder about how those teams we beat in close contests feel. Sometimes you can be a great team but there is that one team better. That was us and Port Adelaide for a while, they were a fantastic side but we were better. Ross Lyon has coached a few sides that would know how that feels too.

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AH: You have always spoken of preliminary finals in almost the same tone as premierships. Is that because you appreciate anything can happen on Grand Final day?

JA: No, premierships are what it is all about. But I reckon preliminary finals are a maker for a great season. Anything can happen from there and some great sides haven’t won flags, or as many as other sides. But I think if you are consistently making preliminary finals you have been a great side. I was lucky enough to play in nine preliminary finals in 16 years, that is unbelievable. I really was fortunate to play in some great teams at both the Lions and Bulldogs.

AH: In recent years we’ve seen Hawthorn and Geelong enjoy sustained periods of success. Have they dulled the Lions’ legacy?

JA: They were all good teams. The Geelong and Hawthorn eras came after us. What has been impressive and what those clubs must be applauded for is the ability to perform over a long period of time. We could debate for hours which side was better or worse and never get to the bottom of it. I’m happy to say they were all very strong sides.

AH: What is the common denominator?

JA: You need to be able to execute on the biggest stage, that’s the mark of excellence. But to have a successful era other factors have to add up and No.1 is extraordinarily good drafting and recruiting, without that, don’t worry about it. Brisbane, Geelong and Hawthorn, the reason they were able to have sustained periods of success was because they drafted well and recruited shrewdly to fill a spot here or add depth there. You can have one outlier year where everything goes right and you get to the GF, and we saw the Bulldogs have a wonderful month and a half last year to claim the fairytale, but they couldn’t get back this year. Geelong, who we played a preliminary final against in 2004, were in another one this year.

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Jason Akermanis and Jonathan Brown celebrate a goal in the 2003 Grand Final.

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Jason Akermanis kicks a goal in the 2003 Grand Final at the MCG.

AH: You mention 2004 and that preliminary final which was at the MCG, when you had earned the right to host it at the Gabba. Is the pain of the Grand Final loss the following week still there?

JA: It will never go away because it was a deliberate act. I have heard Leigh talk about it to. We worked so hard for it, and as much as it was awesome to win three in a row, you always remember the one we lost, especially because we were sabotaged by head office. Bloody hell that is an awful rule where you have to play a preliminary final at the MCG, it made it unfair.

AH: Geelong players often say the way Brisbane bullied them is what drove them to premiership glory.

JA: Yeah, that’s what happens. We had that four or five-year stretch where we had the chance to bully them and you enjoy doing it because you know it won’t last for ever. Geelong just had to wait until we got older and slower to have their crack.

AH: Who was the best Grand Final player you played with or against?

JA: Clark Keating was very good. People forget about old Crackers because obviously he wasn’t great season-to-season due to injuries, but come September he was outstanding. Don’t get me wrong, blokes like Vossie (Michael Voss), we couldn’t have won them without him. But Crackers was Mr September, people started to talk about it and he started to believe it and he became this incredible big-game player.

AH: You coached North Albury for five years. Did you find yourself becoming a Leigh Matthews clone?

JA: Early on yes, everyone does that. Then after four or five years you start to form your own ideas, you have more confidence to discard things from your own coaches you don’t think works for you. It is why you need five or six, even 10, years to learn your craft. It is why I don’t like seeing blokes come straight out of the game into coaching roles in the AFL.

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Jason Akermanis coached North Albury for five years. P

AH: You have also completed a university course on coaching, do you have aspirations to join the AFL system?

JA: Absolutely, it burns brightly. At 40 I feel like I am ready to go. I’ve run my own teams in country footy where you do the job of five people and it gives you those extra experiences, extra skills and they are underrated skills. I have had to learn to keep my ego in check, to be more humble. And I’ve become more grateful, I’ve realised that what I had throughout my career was great and I am happy and thankful for it, it has made me a completely different person.

AH: Do you think the controversial nature of your playing career has locked you out of the AFL to date?

JA: It has been a two-way street. I feel like I have held myself back from the industry a bit too because of the hurt. The Bulldogs stuff was unfair. I was getting sacked for supposedly leaking stuff, it was wishy-washy. I’d been sacked once before so it was easy for them, the leadership was soft. They got away with it and I get left with the stain. I made plenty of mistakes as a player and I’ve paid for them but I feel I have to keep paying for them.

AH: How is your relationship with Leigh?

JA: It is great. He text me out of the blue recently because he had seen on a website where someone had posted my top five moments. He just said “I’ve seen the highlights and it gave me goosebumps’’. I replied that we had to do it together and I couldn’t have done it without him. As far as the relationship goes, I always love to see him. Coaching my own team allowed me to understand more of what he was doing and also what I could have done better as a player. I’m not saying everything I did was bad because I did a lot of good as a player too, but you become more logical and there is a lot I would do differently.

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Jason Akermanis and Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews.

AH: I have never seen you as happy as when you were inducted into the Lions’ Hall of Fame last year. Was it because you had fallen back in love with the club?

JA: Yes, once you finish you can’t do it any more, so you can only look back, and people like to tell you how happy you made them and what you have done for them. Really you are only playing a game you would have gladly played for free, but it is nice that the fans remember what you have done. When I left Brisbane it was a bad time for everyone, as you know thanks to my column that we wrote together.

AH: That also caused a rift with your captain Michael Voss which you have since mended. It might surprise people to hear you think he should be given another go as a senior coach.

JA: Absolutely. He knows what he is doing now. His first foray he would have learnt many lessons. I am staggered the Suns aren’t talking to him. Plus he knows the market, you have got to understand the whole place. It is different here. People that come here do so with the right intentions but they eventually go back home. Queensland’s State of Origin side aren’t so successful solely because they have the best players, they are Maroons and they are invested in the state and that is what develops a great culture. Vossie would bring that to the Suns in a heartbeat.
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Aker’s golf ban after cheating claims
Brisbane Lions legend player Jason Akermanis has been sensationally banned from a local golf club after accusations of cheating.

Brisbane Lions three-time premiership player Jason Akermanis has been sensationally banned from a local golf club, according to a report from the Herald Sun. The 2001 Brownlow Medallist has desires to become a professional golfer, but those aspirations hit a snag after being banned, following reports he was cheating on the course. The committee of the Thurgoona Golf Club, near Albury, banned him for a month, with the colourful AFL character explaining he wouldn’t be returning to the course in the future.

“I’ve never had any trouble at any other club,” Aker said. "This was the sixth time I’ve had issues there and I’m not going back.” The Herald Sun explained a complaint came from a member who lives on the course, claiming Akermanis played the ball from out-of-bounds on the third hole. A letter written to the golf club initially got Akermanis suspended for a week, but the ban was rescinded after he challenged the ruling.
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Two weeks ago another member witnessed the ex-Lions forward have six shots when he’d signed for a par four on the 17th hole. “I knew he was watching, my first ball was in for four and I told my playing partners to watch this so I had a bit of a play around,” Akermanis said. “I knew what the guy was doing, it’s an absolute joke.”
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Not like Aker to find himself in a bit of controversy.;)
 
Golf clubs are full of old blokes with nothing better to do. Probably a Pies fan, taking out some angst on Aker.
 
Aker was on the Front Bar last week. Due to Mr MM being in hospital, we didn't see it until now (he is home today and going well)....

...anyway there is a story on DailyMail about Caroline Wilson fairly getting stuck into Aker last night on Classified about his monkey comments on the NIRS radio show, he got sacked at the time and apologised etc...

Way to beat up a story Caro, you are a troublemaker, trying to make a big story out of it etc Said he should never get a job in football..

The incident happened in 2005!

14years ago for god's sake!

Back then it was very common to say someone was a monkey, meaning silly, mischievious, naughty. Kids were often called little monkeys, usually said in an affectionate manner. My take on Akers comment was he was referring to the bosses as silly monkeys, dithering around etc

Nothing whatsoever to do with race or colour!

Somewhere along the line someone decided to get offended and make it into something else altogether.......to the point we can no longer refer affectionately to someone being a bit of a monkey.

Monkey's are known to be mischievious creatures, always have been.

....now Aker is being hung and quartered again for something he did 14yrs ago which was dealt with at the time..

Caro really trying to be relevant and hard hitting............she's not, she's just a grub!
 
MacMum said:
Aker was on the Front Bar last week. Due to Mr MM being in hospital, we didn't see it until now (he is home today and going well)....

...anyway there is a story on DailyMail about Caroline Wilson fairly getting stuck into Aker last night on Classified about his monkey comments on the NIRS radio show, he got sacked at the time and apologised etc...

Way to beat up a story Caro, you are a troublemaker, trying to make a big story out of it etc Said he should never get a job in football..

The incident happened in 2005!

14years ago for god's sake!

Back then it was very common to say someone was a monkey, meaning silly, mischievious, naughty. Kids were often called little monkeys, usually said in an affectionate manner. My take on Akers comment was he was referring to the bosses as silly monkeys, dithering around etc

Nothing whatsoever to do with race or colour!

Somewhere along the line someone decided to get offended and make it into something else altogether.......to the point we can no longer refer affectionately to someone being a bit of a monkey.

Monkey's are known to be mischievious creatures, always have been.

....now Aker is being hung and quartered again for something he did 14yrs ago which was dealt with at the time..

Caro really trying to be relevant and hard hitting............she's not, she's just a grub!
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Yer, I watched it and did cringe when Aker was so open about it, he didn't seem to be ashamed of it which leads me to believe that it wasn't said from a racist viewpoint. I didn't realize it was said that long ago, I'm sure Aker wouldn't say anything similar now as it is very well known and understood that this term is extremely offensive to indigenous people.

If Eddies King Kong comment didn't cost Eddie his Radio/TV/Pies presidency career I'm sure Aker can be forgiven for this 14 year old comment.
 
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