Does Aker allow it to be kept behind closed doors though?
He has such a media presence that every little thing that happens in his life is put under the microscope, by everyone in media world. The club would probably love to keep things in house, but it gets hard when Aker is on radio everyday & is constantly asked questions. Like people have said in the thread, he pushes his own agenda & has done so for years. With him constantly doing this, it puts the club under pressure & they're obliged to respond on behalf of sponsors & members.
I think eveybody is overreacting to this whole Aker fiasco. He has a radio show, gets asked questions and he answers them. To say he is disappointed because he didn't get picked is that a big deal? if every player had a radio show and didn't make the side would they say anything different? At the end of the day the club signed off on Aker having a radio career.
I would think every player has close friends that they tell things to about team meetings and the like. It reminds me of the cotton dockers Seinfeld episode when Jerry tells his friends that his gf loves that stupid cotton dockers commercial. Then when Kramer meets her for the first time he calls her the cotton dockers girl. Upset, she turns to Jerry and says 'did you have to tell your friends' and Jerry replied 'yes i did but my friends didn't have to tell you'.
He should be in trouble for it being made public but lets be honest, every single player in that meeting would have went away and told someone what had taken place. Aker is just guilty of telling someone that couldn't keep it to themselves.
I don't see, "Jason Akermanis should be in the side", I see #21 for the bulldogs is fighting for a spot in the side. For whatever reason he was injured or dropped, 'whatever'. Now he can go into the pile of players (Minsons, Rougheads, Woods, Eagletons, Hills, Stacks etc) that don't get automatic entry, they have to earn their spot.
If the Dogs want to make a run at the premiership they and the players must understand things don't get served on silver platters and they have to earn their place. I know Aker kicked 5 in the 2nds but alot of people are playing well. My advice to him is keep your head down bum up find some form and you'll be back in. Just cause you are 'Aker' does not give you the right to wear the red white and blue.
I for one hope he does come through cause people like him are gold in the finals, but if not, it'll be because the dogs have picked the BEST side at that point in time. Not just names.
I think the big difference is who he's telling...Steve Price and Sam Newman have both come out to bat for Aker in recent weeks!
Two faces of a new radio station struggling for ratings. I'm not sure these guys have Akers best interests at heart! Poor judgement by Aker to say the least.
Good points about other players not whinging about being selected.It's sad that after 3 great seasons Aker has become bitter and now there's going to be a book!
Gotta say being on this shock jock poo radio station is not helping Jason's cause
I think we are handling this ok
Its up to Aker to get fit, show he has something to contribute and toe the party line.
The group are asking him to step up and focus on trying to win a premiership.
I honestly do not care what Aker says. At the moment, the Bulldogs are allowing the media to dictate their team selections. I couldn't give a stuff how self-centred Akermanis is, becuase when the man is on his game he backs up all the hype he gives himself with brilliant football that sets the team alight.
I just want to win. I don't give two shits about our brand image. I want to do whatever it takes to put the best team on the field every week, play our best football, just get out there and win games. Stop bitching about who said what to whom on what channel and what so-and-so footy-journo thinks.
Look at Carlton and Essendon. They'd sell their mothers to win a football game. They've also got 16 flags apiece.
If the club recruited him thinking he was ever going to pull his head in and keep his mouth shut they obviously didn't do their homework.
I simply don't like the media influencing our game plan. If he was not picked because he's not good enough to fill the shoes of the man he'd replace, fine. That's a great situation to have. But do you want to tell me that Everitt — who I really like, btw — offered us more on Saturday night than Aker would've?