Nearly 10 Years Ago Today...

[bulldogtragic]

...The Western Bulldogs sacked Jason Akermanis.

With the power of hindsight, how do we rate him?

Playing: We won 40 games, 26 losses. In the 5 finals he played he averaged around 15 disposals, 6 marks and kicked 9.4 goals/behinds. Although not winning a prelim, his time with us was successful on field.

Off field: Initially brought about excitement. Then the handstand was banned which didn't go down to well. Public comments and newspaper opinion pieces were ranging from scandalous to offensive. He didn't like the Leading Teams model and strong players/leaders giving him their feedback. He refused to reign himself in, despite us being a finals contender again in 2010.

So on this near decade anniversary of his sacking - where he was summarily dismissed so not paid out - how do feel about recruiting him, his time with us onfield and off field, and sacking him?

[Sedat]

Was ultimately a failure but a worthwhile one to pursue for mine. We needed to make the GF in 2009 for it to be deemed a success. Unfortunately Aker went conpletely MIA in that PF on Steven Baker when we most needed his flashes of briliance.

[bornadog]

We originally recruited him for three years, and from what I can remember he didn't cost us much. I thought in those three years he was an excellent player showing some real brilliance in a lot of games. Who can forget the Port Adelaide match at Marvel, when he got us the win with some brilliant roving out of the centre and bursting out to kick multiple goals in the last 5 minutes of the game.

In 2008 he kicked 49 goals and in 2009 he kicked 43, which to me is a great success, however, he should never have been given another year as he was done. His final year he also went off the rails and caused some disruptions with other players which forced the club to sack him.

You can say what you want about Aker as a person, but he is one of the all time great AFL players.

[westdog54]

We originally recruited him for three years, and from what I can remember he didn't cost us much. I thought in those three years he was an excellent player showing some real brilliance in a lot of games. Who can forget the Port Adelaide match at Marvel, when he got us the win with some brilliant roving out of the centre and bursting out to kick multiple goals in the last 5 minutes of the game.

In 2008 he kicked 49 goals and in 2009 he kicked 43, which to me is a great success, however, he should never have been given another year as he was done. His final year he also went off the rails and caused some disruptions with other players which forced the club to sack him.

You can say all what you want about Aker as a person, but he is one of the all time great AFL players.

His final year ultimately vindicated Leigh Matthews, Michael Voss and Jonathan Brown.

Aker was certainly a great player but it got to a stage where he needed to choose between himself and the team, and he chose poorly.

[Sedat]

We originally recruited him for three years, and from what I can remember he didn't cost us much. I thought in those three years he was an excellent player showing some real brilliance in a lot of games. Who can forget the Port Adelaide match at Marvel, when he got us the win with some brilliant roving out of the centre and bursting out to kick multiple goals in the last 5 minutes of the game.

In 2008 he kicked 49 goals and in 2009 he kicked 43, which to me is a great success, however, he should never have been given another year as he was done. His final year he also went off the rails and caused some disruptions with other players which forced the club to sack him.

You can say what you want about Aker as a person, but he is one of the all time great AFL players.

I reckon the experiment was tracking perfectly until the 2009 PF. He just couldn't get near it that night when we desperately needed his brilliance. As we all know, we played all over the Saints that night bur just couldn't capitalise on our dominance. Even a couple of Aker flashes of brilliance would have gotten us over the line but he just couldn't get it done.

The extra year in 2010 was a disaster on all fronts.

[bornadog]

I reckon the experiment was tracking perfectly until the 2009 PF. He just couldn't get near it that night when we desperately needed his brilliance. As we all know, we played all over the Saints that night bur just couldn't capitalise on our dominance. Even a couple of Aker flashes of brilliance would have gotten us over the line but he just couldn't get it done.

The extra year in 2010 was a disaster on all fronts.

Yeah he wasn't the only one in that Prelim. The one thing I remember (amongst a couple more incidence), was when Aker kicked a 50 metre kick that bounced over the boundary. The umpire called deliberate (rare those days for such a long kick down the line), Saints got the ball, centred it, then kicked long for Riewoldt to goal - ball game over

[jeemak]

Yeah he wasn't the only one in that Prelim. The one thing I remember (amongst a couple more incidence), was when Aker kicked a 50 metre kick that bounced over the boundary. The umpire called deliberate (rare those days for such a long kick down the line), Saints got the ball, centred it, then kicked long for Riewoldt to goal - ball game over

Didn't it bounce at right angles or thereabouts?

The only game I have ever said the result was a direct outcome of bad umpiring. A completely disgusting display.

[bulldogtragic]

Yeah he wasn't the only one in that Prelim. The one thing I remember (amongst a couple more incidence), was when Aker kicked a 50 metre kick that bounced over the boundary. The umpire called deliberate (rare those days for such a long kick down the line), Saints got the ball, centred it, then kicked long for Riewoldt to goal - ball game over

He was. Aker said later in the year or early the next year that he was deliberately kicking it out of bounds. That was close to fair. The Lake one at half time less so. The Hargrave one was the worst ever decision that gave St Kilda their first goal while we had momentum.

I was on the wing, second level, I don't know why he didn't just go for distance and sprint to the St Kilda defender who would've got to it first and hope to pressure a turnover.

Thank God for 2016.

[bornadog]

He was. Aker said later in the year or early the next year that he was deliberately kicking it out of bounds. That was close to fair. The Lake one at half time less so. The Hargrave one was the worst ever decision that gave St Kilda their first goal while we had momentum.

I was on the wing, second level, I don't know why he didn't just go for distance and sprint to the St Kilda defender who would've got to it first and hope to pressure a turnover.

Thank God for 2016.

I have a particular issue with deliberate. I don't agree with the interpretation.

[Happy Days]

His last game against Essendon was particularly grim. He got nowhere near it and was constantly trying to do spectacular things to the team's detriment, like trying to take hangers and giving away frees, or trying to kick impossible goals instead of to teammates. It was like he was trying to show us we needed him, and ended up proving the opposite.

Relatedly - I'll die on the hill of believing we win the 2010 flag if we didn't get that weird team-wide flu right before having to play in a monsoon in Adelaide. We were cooking after sacking Aker.

[jeemak]

His last game against Essendon was particularly grim. He got nowhere near it and was constantly trying to do spectacular things to the team's detriment, like trying to take hangers and giving away frees, or trying to kick impossible goals instead of to teammates. It was like he was trying to show us we needed him, and ended up proving the opposite.

Relatedly - I'll die on the hill of believing we win the 2010 flag if we didn't get that weird team-wide flu right before having to play in a monsoon in Adelaide. We were cooking after sacking Aker.

We were really flat at the end of 2010 after that flu.

Aker played some really good footy for us, but shouldn't have gone on in 2010 which was a year in which he ultimately just couldn't help himself and reverted to type.

He was a worthwhile investment, but just never matured as he should have and from all reports still hasn't.

[1eyedog]

His last game against Essendon was particularly grim. He got nowhere near it and was constantly trying to do spectacular things to the team's detriment, like trying to take hangers and giving away frees, or trying to kick impossible goals instead of to teammates. It was like he was trying to show us we needed him, and ended up proving the opposite.

Relatedly - I'll die on the hill of believing we win the 2010 flag if we didn't get that weird team-wide flu right before having to play in a monsoon in Adelaide. We were cooking after sacking Aker.

Remember Johnno doing this way too much near the end as well.

[josie]

I loved him when he played for us. A really reliable kick for goal and so footy smart. It was worth the punt. Was very sad the way it ended. Despite his self centredness & tendency to speak before thinking shortcomings I still have a soft spot for him. I also wish the club had let him do his handstand. It was a bit of fun and I enjoyed it. His autobiography was an interesting read.

[AndrewP6]

I loved him when he played for us. A really reliable kick for goal and so footy smart. It was worth the punt. Was very sad the way it ended. Despite his self centredness & tendency to speak before thinking shortcomings I still have a soft spot for him. I also wish the club had let him do his handstand. It was a bit of fun and I enjoyed it. His autobiography was an interesting read.

This. The furore over the handstand was absolutely ludicrous. I was a fan of his.

[The Pie Man]

That deliberate is a real sore point - another moment in our never to be made 30 for 30.

I remember being relieved he cleared the 50, but as it started rolling I got a really bad feeling...was like the sporting gods were warning me this isn’t going to be the night. Felt it was harsh but wasn’t surprised it was called

(Some mark from Roo following this to be fair )

As BT said, thank god for 2016