Tweet
Swans to pounce on Akermanis
EXCLUSIVE By RICHARD ZACHARIAH
04may03
IN what could become the greatest recruiting coup since Tony Lockett's Sydney transfer, Brisbane Lions champion Jason Akermanis may be a Swan next year.
Akermanis, 26, a dual premiership player with the Lions and a Brownlow medallist, is off contract at the end of this season. No attempt has been made to re-sign him.
Brisbane, bloated with expensive and sort-after talent, have admitted they have irresistible salary cap pressures which can only get worse if they win a third premiership.
And the Lions will not attempt to re-sign any of their out-of-contract players until they know the AFL's policy on player concessions or the salary cap this year.
Which means Akermanis is unsure of his immediate football future.
There is growing talk in Melbourne and Brisbane football circles about the Akermanis move, which is bound to be supported by the AFL in its bid to strengthen the Sydney presence.
However, the Swans are silent because they have most to gain and lose if the rumours are correct.
Lions chairman Graham Downie said yesterday he had heard the rumours.
"Yes, I've heard the rumours but they would be very silly if they are talking to Jason because of the penalties," Downie said.
The AFL has strict rules against player poaching outside of the trade weeks before the national draft.
The Swans would be fined heavily and have draft choices cancelled if it was discovered there had been a mid-season move on Akermanis.
That is why Swans chairman Richard Colless dismissed questions about Akermanis yesterday.
"Talk to the football people ? they handle that. They always have," Colless said. Football manager Andrew Ireland did not return my calls.
However, any Akermanis move to Sydney would involve Ireland, a former Brisbane Lions executive.
Ireland has known Akermanis since he was a 13-year-old at Mayne Football Club in Brisbane. They are friends.
Any move to secure Akermanis would mean the Swans would have to swap at least one early draft choice.
But I believe his superior skills would be enough to forgo Paul Roos' youth policy.
Swans fans will have the chance to appraise Akermanis next Sunday when Sydney host the Lions at the SCG.
He would be ideally suited to Sydney on and off the field.
His midfield dynamism, speed and goal-kicking would be perfect for the Swans, who lose Daryn Cresswell at the end of the season to retirement.
He would also complement Barry Hall perfectly.
Off the field his dyed-blond hair and outgoing, effusive character would suit Sydney far more than his adopted home town of Brisbane ? or the dour, no-frills regime of Lions coach Leigh Matthews.
Akermanis, a regular on Brisbane radio and a columnist with The Courier-Mail, has none of the media reticence that dogged Lockett or the hard-to-sell Hall.
He made few friends in Brisbane by coming out strongly against Wayne Carey, when the Kangaroos captain was discovered to be having an affair with his vice-captain's wife.
Akermanis said at the time he would not play in a team with Carey, leading Matthews to chide him in the press.
And Akermanis sees his future in the media.
There is no better city in which to follow that dream.
EXCLUSIVE By RICHARD ZACHARIAH
04may03
IN what could become the greatest recruiting coup since Tony Lockett's Sydney transfer, Brisbane Lions champion Jason Akermanis may be a Swan next year.
Akermanis, 26, a dual premiership player with the Lions and a Brownlow medallist, is off contract at the end of this season. No attempt has been made to re-sign him.
Brisbane, bloated with expensive and sort-after talent, have admitted they have irresistible salary cap pressures which can only get worse if they win a third premiership.
And the Lions will not attempt to re-sign any of their out-of-contract players until they know the AFL's policy on player concessions or the salary cap this year.
Which means Akermanis is unsure of his immediate football future.
There is growing talk in Melbourne and Brisbane football circles about the Akermanis move, which is bound to be supported by the AFL in its bid to strengthen the Sydney presence.
However, the Swans are silent because they have most to gain and lose if the rumours are correct.
Lions chairman Graham Downie said yesterday he had heard the rumours.
"Yes, I've heard the rumours but they would be very silly if they are talking to Jason because of the penalties," Downie said.
The AFL has strict rules against player poaching outside of the trade weeks before the national draft.
The Swans would be fined heavily and have draft choices cancelled if it was discovered there had been a mid-season move on Akermanis.
That is why Swans chairman Richard Colless dismissed questions about Akermanis yesterday.
"Talk to the football people ? they handle that. They always have," Colless said. Football manager Andrew Ireland did not return my calls.
However, any Akermanis move to Sydney would involve Ireland, a former Brisbane Lions executive.
Ireland has known Akermanis since he was a 13-year-old at Mayne Football Club in Brisbane. They are friends.
Any move to secure Akermanis would mean the Swans would have to swap at least one early draft choice.
But I believe his superior skills would be enough to forgo Paul Roos' youth policy.
Swans fans will have the chance to appraise Akermanis next Sunday when Sydney host the Lions at the SCG.
He would be ideally suited to Sydney on and off the field.
His midfield dynamism, speed and goal-kicking would be perfect for the Swans, who lose Daryn Cresswell at the end of the season to retirement.
He would also complement Barry Hall perfectly.
Off the field his dyed-blond hair and outgoing, effusive character would suit Sydney far more than his adopted home town of Brisbane ? or the dour, no-frills regime of Lions coach Leigh Matthews.
Akermanis, a regular on Brisbane radio and a columnist with The Courier-Mail, has none of the media reticence that dogged Lockett or the hard-to-sell Hall.
He made few friends in Brisbane by coming out strongly against Wayne Carey, when the Kangaroos captain was discovered to be having an affair with his vice-captain's wife.
Akermanis said at the time he would not play in a team with Carey, leading Matthews to chide him in the press.
And Akermanis sees his future in the media.
There is no better city in which to follow that dream.
Comment