aker39
07-11-2008, 09:24 AM
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/akermanis-plans-finale-and-his-flight-to-freedom/2008/11/06/1225561045871.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1p://
CONTENT now that 2009 would be his last year playing football, Jason Akermanis said yesterday he was still trying to convince his club that he should be free to speak and forecast he would sit out some games next season.
After a season review with Rodney Eade (that the Brownlow medallist described as "negatively based") led to the Western Bulldogs coach apologising to him, Akermanis, who needs to play eight senior games to reach his 300-match milestone, said his simple goal was to play them as soon as possible.
"Anything over that will be a bonus. I want to play the eight as fast as I can to try to get 300," he told The Age.
"I played all 25 this year, so there's no doubt I can play, it's just whether they (the club) can just help me with my training a bit and not sort of make me train and do everything. I need a bit of help there."
Asked whether he felt confident that he could reach the milestone, Akermanis, who will turn 32 before next season, said: "I do. But I don't know if they do.
"Certainly in my last year, I'll play as much as I can, but I might say, 'I'm pretty tired this week', and I'm sure they'll be happy to say, 'Have the weekend off, don't travel or we'll put this young guy in' and then everyone will win."
The matter of the triple premiership player's media commitments — a delicate issue since he left the Brisbane Lions and took up at the Whitten Oval in 2007 — clearly remains a point of difference between player and club.
"I'm trying to work with them," Akermanis said yesterday.
"I could probably do nothing next year and probably be assured of doing something afterwards in some capacity in what I like doing.
"But I still think there's a part of me that says, every club wants players to go to uni and get experienced, well, this is my job. This is what I want to do. And it's not what they want, they don't deal with it that well … but big deal.
"This being my last year, I think it's really important to be doing work because footy's not forever and then I want to set it up afterwards and that's more sort of my goal. They've got a different philosophy on it, as footy clubs do, so I'm just trying to work with them on that one. We'll see how we can resolve it."
Akermanis has clearance to continue writing newspaper columns, which are vetted by the club before publication, next season but has been told he should give up other appearances such as the regular radio slot he held this year.
Dejected after his meeting with Eade and other Bulldogs officials following the Dogs' preliminary final loss, Akermanis said he felt compelled to initiate a follow-up with the head coach.
"There's nothing worse than thinking they don't want you to play when that's not the case. I went back and had a chat to him (Eade) after and just sort of clarified it," Akermanis said.
"It was a little bit of a miscommunication from both ends, more from a miscommunication from their end.
"I just think they'd had lots of meetings and they wanted to just say, 'This is the point' and they went straight to the point and they weren't as positive as I thought they'd be and I felt it was negatively based. And Rocket said, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean that', and we clarified and we cleared the air and I was sweet after that."
CONTENT now that 2009 would be his last year playing football, Jason Akermanis said yesterday he was still trying to convince his club that he should be free to speak and forecast he would sit out some games next season.
After a season review with Rodney Eade (that the Brownlow medallist described as "negatively based") led to the Western Bulldogs coach apologising to him, Akermanis, who needs to play eight senior games to reach his 300-match milestone, said his simple goal was to play them as soon as possible.
"Anything over that will be a bonus. I want to play the eight as fast as I can to try to get 300," he told The Age.
"I played all 25 this year, so there's no doubt I can play, it's just whether they (the club) can just help me with my training a bit and not sort of make me train and do everything. I need a bit of help there."
Asked whether he felt confident that he could reach the milestone, Akermanis, who will turn 32 before next season, said: "I do. But I don't know if they do.
"Certainly in my last year, I'll play as much as I can, but I might say, 'I'm pretty tired this week', and I'm sure they'll be happy to say, 'Have the weekend off, don't travel or we'll put this young guy in' and then everyone will win."
The matter of the triple premiership player's media commitments — a delicate issue since he left the Brisbane Lions and took up at the Whitten Oval in 2007 — clearly remains a point of difference between player and club.
"I'm trying to work with them," Akermanis said yesterday.
"I could probably do nothing next year and probably be assured of doing something afterwards in some capacity in what I like doing.
"But I still think there's a part of me that says, every club wants players to go to uni and get experienced, well, this is my job. This is what I want to do. And it's not what they want, they don't deal with it that well … but big deal.
"This being my last year, I think it's really important to be doing work because footy's not forever and then I want to set it up afterwards and that's more sort of my goal. They've got a different philosophy on it, as footy clubs do, so I'm just trying to work with them on that one. We'll see how we can resolve it."
Akermanis has clearance to continue writing newspaper columns, which are vetted by the club before publication, next season but has been told he should give up other appearances such as the regular radio slot he held this year.
Dejected after his meeting with Eade and other Bulldogs officials following the Dogs' preliminary final loss, Akermanis said he felt compelled to initiate a follow-up with the head coach.
"There's nothing worse than thinking they don't want you to play when that's not the case. I went back and had a chat to him (Eade) after and just sort of clarified it," Akermanis said.
"It was a little bit of a miscommunication from both ends, more from a miscommunication from their end.
"I just think they'd had lots of meetings and they wanted to just say, 'This is the point' and they went straight to the point and they weren't as positive as I thought they'd be and I felt it was negatively based. And Rocket said, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean that', and we clarified and we cleared the air and I was sweet after that."