CONTROVERSIAL and colourful Jason Akermanis has promised nothing but pure ‘Aka’ during his guest appearance at the Coolangatta Football Club this weekend.
By Terry Wilson
The Brisbane Lions’ triple premiership player is special guest at a big fund-raising exercise by Coolangatta, starting on Friday night at a sportsmen’s dinner, followed by a match appearance with the Blues on Saturday afternoon.
Akermanis is expected to wear jumper 12 – the one he wore during his illustrious career with Brisbane – in the big southern Gold Coast derby against Palm Beach-Currumbin at Len Peak Oval, starting at 2pm.
The match is a round-five fixture in the Pineapple Hotel Cup, the AFLQ’s Premier Division series.
Akermanis will be joined at the Friday night dinner by another Brownlow Medallist, former South Melbourne and Sydney giant Barry Round whose son, David, a dual Grogan Medallist in the QAFL, is expected to play against Akermanis for Palm Beach.
Round won his Brownlow in 1981, Akermanis won his 20 years larer in 2001, the year he celebrated the first of three successive AFL flags with Brisbane.
Now a noted function speaker, Akermanis is currently specialising in guest appearances for clubs. He is registered with Glenorchy in Tasmania, but has made two guest appearances with the Millewa Football League and last weekend the Heywood Football Club in Victoria.
Akermanis, who has worked hard for 10 years on his guest speaking role, says patrons on Friday night will hear not so much on football, but more about the life and times of one of the game’s most colourful characters.
Certainly Akermanis has not pulled his punches to date, so we can expect more of the same Peak Oval.
“You’ll hear about a life – and, gees, have I had a life,” said Akermanis.
“It’s hard to explain when I’m the one saying it, but the feedback I get is now, ‘I had no idea that’s what your life was like and that’s who you turned out the way you did’.
“It explains a lot, put it that way.”
Despite his reputation of being a human headline, Akermanis points out that there is no dirt attached to his football career – no suggestion of drunken behaviour, of taking drugs or any other unsociable issues.
“There’s a very good reason why I’m the opposite to those boys,” he said.
Akermanis promises an entertaining hour on the couch and says he has some amusing tales to tall, including one very funny one concerning former Bulldogs team-mate Adam Cooney.
And, he says, he’ll reveal what was really said when current Brisbane coach Michael Voss unloaded with a classic sledge on brother Brett during a Lions-St Kilda match.
“I was the only one who heard it,” said Akermanis of a story that has been constantly changed over the years.
No doubt his early-season dig at Voss and his under-performing Lions will be mentioned during the night.
On the football field, we can expect to see Akermanis in the middle for the Blues. He played virtually a full match there in a four-goal loss by Heywood, a side that had not won a game this year and which suffered a 40-goal flogging in its previous encounter.
Tickets for the sports night at the Len Peak Oval social club are $50 a head (for dinner and show) and entry to Saturday’s game is $5 for adults and no charge for children.
