Jason Dean Akermanis (born 24 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...

list and triple premiership player who played for the

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Football Club, nicknamed the Bears, was a professional Australian rules football club based in Queensland on the Gold Coast (relocated to Brisbane in 1993). The club participated in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/ ...

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

and

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

Early life

Akermanis was born in

Mildura, Victoria Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, New South Wales, Wentworth, Irymple, Victo ...

to a Canadian father John Akermanis, and an Australian mother Shona Carswell, but moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

at 9 years of age. Upon arriving in Queensland in 1986, Akermanis signed up to play for the Mayne under-10s side. When he was 13, Akermanis discovered that he was not the son of his mother's former partner, John Akermanis. His biological father was Denis Dezdjek, a mechanic from Mildura who his mother had an affair with. He was educated at

Wavell State High School Wavell State High School is a coeducational independent public secondary school based in Wavell Heights, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The school has a total enrolment of more than 1500 students from years 7–12, with an official co ...

then at St. Joseph's Nudgee College and played football with the Mayne Football Club in the

QAFL The Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL) is an Australian rules football competition organised by the AFL Queensland, contested by clubs from South East Queensland. Previously known as the Queensland Football League (QFL), Queensland ...

where he was spotted by

talent scouts. He completed year 12 at high school in 1995, during his first year with the Brisbane Bears.

AFL career

Brisbane Bears (1995–1996)

Akermanis was a solid contributor to the Brisbane Bears midfield (wing), with his pace and skills evident even early in his career. Akermanis made his debut in Round 4 of the

1995 AFL season The 1995 AFL season was the 99th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The league expanded to ...

, he had a solid debut, accumulating 19 disposals and kicking 1 goal in the Bears loss to Carlton. He played a total of 17 games in this debut season and kicking 12 goals. The

1996 AFL season The 1996 AFL season was the 100th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured si ...

saw Akermanis play 21 games and kick 32 goals for the season, he doubled his disposal count from the previous season to finish with 328 total disposals for the season. His season was highlighted with a 19 disposal & 6 goal effort against the West Coast Eagles in Round 17.

Brisbane Lions (1997–2006)

It was after the Brisbane Lions formed that he began to shine, bulking up significantly, and a move to the forward line enabled him to make the most of his opportunities and develop a reputation as a goal sneak. Akermanis played 34 games across the 1997-98 seasons and tallied 532 disposals and 32 goals.

1999 AFL season The 1999 AFL season was the 103rd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured s ...

saw Akermanis have a breakout year, winning the Merrett–Murray Medal as Brisbane's Best & Fairest player for the season. Jason gathered 469 disposals and booted 16 goals for the season. Akermanis became one of the

' most talented players. His flamboyant talents and bleached-blond hair and contrasting black beard make him easy to identify on the field. At the Lions he made his name as a speedy midfielder or on-baller with blistering acceleration and an uncanny ability to kick exceptionally well with either foot, talents which helped him win the AFL's

in 2001 in which he polled 23 votes to beat Adelaide's

Andrew McLeod Andrew Luke McLeod (born 4 August 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the games record holder for Adelaide, having played 340 games. ...

. The 2001 season saw Jason tally 510 disposals and kick 28 goals for the season, ultimately capping off a magnificent week/season, finishing as a premiership player. The 2002 AFL season saw Akermanis impact the scoreboard by kicking 49 goals for the season, and becoming a premiership player again, as the Brisbane Lions defeated Collingwood in the decider. Akermanis played with a torn right adductor, in which he suffered early in the first quarter, this effected his ability to kick with his dominant right foot, resulting in Jason kicking on his left foot for the majority of the game, he eventually kicked a left foot snap over his shoulder late in the last quarter in which would be the sealer, guiding the Lions to victory. Akermanis is also known for his goal-scoring abilities. He was a winner of the AFL Goal of the Year 2002 award and had an ability to kick goals from acute angles. In a match in 2005, he kicked two goals within minutes of each other from almost exactly the same spot: deep in the right

forward pocket In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the gro ...

on the run. Early in the 2006 season, Akermanis was dropped from the Brisbane Lions side for Round 7, playing a game with the Suncoast Lions. This coincided with inflammatory comments that he made about the coach,

Leigh Matthews Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the . Squat, short-legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the ic ...

, during the week, and there was speculation that his time at the club was up only a few months after he had won the 2005 club best and fairest award. However, Akermanis was soon recalled to the side and responded with 22 disposals across half-back in the game against Port Adelaide, and a post-match interview with Channel Nine showed him smiling and visibly happy with his performance. On 27 July 2006 it was reported that the coaching panel and senior playing group had voted unanimously (12–0) to not allow him back into the club.

Western Bulldogs (2007–2010)

On 6 September, it was reported that the

were leading in the race to sign Akermanis for the 2007 season. On 15 September, Akermanis confirmed that he wanted to join the Bulldogs. It was then down to the Lions agreeing on the trade price, which they did on 9 October, when Brisbane Lions football manager Graeme Allan announced that the team had agreed to trade Akermanis to the Bulldogs. At the end of the 2008 season, Akermanis made a statement that he would retire at the end of 2009 when his three-year contract expired, however he displayed excellent form at the start of the 2009 season, and later retracted his earlier comment about retirement. Western Bulldogs coach

Rodney Eade Rodney Eade (born 4 April 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach in the Australian Football League. He is a former coach of the Sydney Swans, the Western Bulldogs and the Gold Coast Football Club. He has, to date, coached 37 ...

said he had not ruled out the possibility of extending Akermanis's contract depending on his performance for the rest of the season. He then signed with the Bulldogs for another year, hoping to play in a fourth premiership side. It is assumed his contract would be for substantially less pay than his previous deal, which is estimated at between $350,000 and $400,000 a year. In July 2010 it was announced that the Western Bulldogs had terminated Akermanis' contract due to the club's judgement that the two were on different paths. At the time of his sacking, he was one of only two former Brisbane Bears players left in the AFL, with the other being

Daniel Bradshaw Daniel Mark Bradshaw (born 21 November 1978) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Bears, Brisbane Lions and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Bradshaw is best known as being a dual premiership ...

. He and Bradshaw were also the last remaining members of the Brisbane Lions inaugural 1997 list.

Post-AFL playing career

Akermanis began playing with the

Glenorchy Football Club The Glenorchy District Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently playing in the Tasmanian State League and the Southern Football League in Tasmania, Australia. History The club is nicknamed the Magpies after its black and w ...

in the Tasmanian State League in 2011 as well as playing a number of one-off games at various country clubs. In 2013, he became captain-coach of the

North Albury Football Club The North Albury Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Hoppers'', is an Australian rules football and netball club playing in the Ovens & Murray Football League (O&MFL). They are incorporated as part of the North Albury Sports Club licensed c ...

in the

Ovens & Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales and the Ovens and Murray ar ...

Controversy

Akermanis threatened to switch codes to

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

in 2002 if Brisbane signed former

Kangaroos Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also ...

star

Wayne Carey Wayne Francis Carey (born 27 May 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A dual-premiership captain at North Melbou ...

, and leaked to the media that teammate

Nigel Lappin Nigel Lappin (born 21 June 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. Lappin is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Geelong Football Club. Playing career Lappin was born in the locally based regional hospital at ...

had broken his ribs during the 2003 preliminary final against Sydney. In 2007, Akermanis wrote a column about performance-enhancing drugs and his views on their presence in sport, which included comments that he believed a specific opposing player, whom he did not name, had been using the drugs based on how strong a runner the player was for his size. The

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

and

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...

inferred and named the player as the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...

' Michael Braun, damaging Braun's reputation and subjecting him to an investigation by the

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) was a government statutory authority tasked to protect Australia's sporting integrity through the elimination of doping. The authority was part of the Department of Health's portfolio and was ...

, which cleared him of wrongdoing. Braun was ultimately awarded defamation damages against Seven and Fairfax, and received an apology from Akermanis, who conceded that he had been referring to Braun, and admitted that he had been wrong. In a May 2010 column, he wrote about homosexuality in sports, and expressed an opinion that he believed homosexual players should stay in the closet, as he did not believe football culture was at that time ready to fully accept them. Numerous people spoke out against his column, and the Western Bulldogs, who were worried about the negative publicity, suspended him for two matches for not having the column approved by the club before having it published. Akermanis would later be dismissed by the Western Bulldogs two months later, partly related to leaking confidential team information to the media as part of a media career which the Bulldogs believed was taking an undue amount of his focus. In a radio interview shortly after the death of former Melbourne Football Club player and president

Jim Stynes James Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish-born footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), he went on to become ...

in 2012, Akermanis commented that Stynes was "a nasty man in his day", was treated as a "demi-god", and questioned his deservedness to receive a state funeral just two days after Stynes' death. In October 2014, Akermanis was suspended for four matches as head coach of the North Albury Football Club after being found guilty of breaching the AFL Victoria cyber-bullying policy in regards to several umpires' decisions during the 2014 Ovens & Murray Football League season. By 2019, Akermanis had reportedly been banned by three golf clubs for alleged cheating incidents. Akermanis denied the clubs’ claims.

Personal life

Akermanis is married to Megan Legge, a speech pathologist. They have three daughters. Akermanis learned

Auslan Auslan () is the majority sign language of the Australian Deaf community. The term ''Auslan'' is a portmanteau of "Australian Sign Language", coined by Trevor Johnston in the 1980s, although the language itself is much older. Auslan is relat ...

to communicate with his wife's hearing-impaired parents. He also speaks

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Statistics

:Jason Akermanis' player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 17 , , 12 , , 8 , , 101 , , 65 , , 166 , , 30 , , 15 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 5.9 , , 3.8 , , 9.8 , , 1.8 , , 0.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1996 , style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 21 , , 32 , , 14 , , 240 , , 88 , , 328 , , 76 , , 26 , , 1.5 , , 0.7 , , 11.4 , , 4.2 , , 15.6 , , 3.6 , , 1.2 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, style="text-align:center;",

, 12 , , 17 , , 20 , , 17 , , 185 , , 65 , , 250 , , 67 , , 12 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , 10.9 , , 3.8 , , 14.7 , , 3.9 , , 0.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 17 , , 12 , , 11 , , 187 , , 95 , , 282 , , 51 , , 18 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 11.0 , , 5.6 , , 16.6 , , 3.0 , , 1.1 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 24 , , 16 , , 7 , , 331 , , 138 , , 469 , , 105 , , 36 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 13.8 , , 5.8 , , 19.5 , , 4.4 , , 1.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 21 , , 26 , , 13 , , 322 , , 138 , , 460 , , 107 , , 36 , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 15.3 , , 6.6 , , 21.9 , , 5.1 , , 1.7 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2001 , style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 24 , , 28 , , 20 , , 332 , , 178 , , 510 , , 103 , , 60 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 13.8 , , 7.4 , , 21.3 , , 4.3 , , 2.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2002 , style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 22 , , 49 , , 31 , , 297 , , 105 , , 402 , , 95 , , 90 , , 2.2 , , 1.4 , , 13.5 , , 4.8 , , 18.3 , , 4.3 , , 4.1 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2003 , style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 25 , , 28 , , 32 , , 350 , , 102 , , 452 , , 99 , , 84 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , 14.0 , , 4.1 , , 18.1 , , 4.0 , , 3.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2004 , style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 25 , , 44 , , 32 , , 390 , , 107 , , 497 , , 110 , , 63 , , 1.8 , , 1.3 , , 15.6 , , 4.3 , , 19.9 , , 4.4 , , 2.5 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2005 , style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 21 , , 25 , , 22 , , 295 , , 146 , , 441 , , 71 , , 90 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , 14.0 , , 7.0 , , 21.0 , , 3.4 , , 4.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2006 , style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 14 , , 15 , , 16 , , 194 , , 66 , , 260 , , 78 , , 40 , , 1.1 , , 1.1 , , 13.9 , , 4.7 , , 18.6 , , 5.6 , , 2.9 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2007 , style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 19 , , 20 , , 17 , , 219 , , 80 , , 299 , , 91 , , 50 , , 1.1 , , 0.9 , , 11.5 , , 4.2 , , 15.7 , , 4.8 , , 2.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 25 , , 49 , , 28 , , 297 , , 132 , , 429 , , 142 , , 41 , , 2.0 , , 1.1 , , 11.9 , , 5.3 , , 17.2 , , 5.7 , , 1.6 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2009 , style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 24 , , 43 , , 35 , , 282 , , 189 , , 471 , , 124 , , 86 , , 1.8 , , 1.5 , , 11.8 , , 7.9 , , 19.6 , , 5.2 , , 3.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2010 , style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 9 , , 2 , , 7 , , 79 , , 73 , , 152 , , 44 , , 27 , , 0.2 , , 0.8 , , 8.8 , , 8.1 , , 16.9 , , 4.9 , , 3.0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 325 ! 421 ! 310 ! 4101 ! 1767 ! 5868 ! 1393 ! 774 ! 1.3 ! 1.0 ! 12.6 ! 5.4 ! 18.1 ! 4.3 ! 2.4

Honours and achievements

*Team **

AFL Premiership This page is a complete chronological listing of VFL/AFL premiers. The Australian Football League (AFL), known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) until 1990, is the elite national competition in men's Australian rules football. The inaugur ...

(

): 2001, 2002, 2003 *Individual **

: 2001 ** Merrett–Murray Medal (Brisbane Lions Best & Fairest): 1999, 2005 **

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led b ...

: 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004 ** Brisbane Lions Leading Goalkicker: 2004 ** Western Bulldogs Leading Goalkicker: 2009

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akermanis, Jason 1977 births Aberfeldie Football Club players All-Australians (AFL) Allies State of Origin players Australian rules footballers from Queensland Brisbane Bears players Brisbane Lions players Brisbane Lions Premiership players Brownlow Medal winners Glenorchy Football Club players Living people Merrett–Murray Medal winners People from Mildura Mayne Australian Football Club players Western Bulldogs players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australia international rules football team players The Apprentice Australia candidates People educated at St Joseph's College, Nudgee Three-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Australian people of Canadian descent Sportspeople from Brisbane