From the Weekly Times
FORMER AFL star Jason Akermanis has defended his two-year country roadshow in which he played one-off games. The Brownlow medallist's appearances at regional clubs had been labelled "a circus" and "the Jason Akermanis superannuation fund" by detractors. Now senior coach at North Albury in the Ovens and Murray league, he said playing for different clubs was "more addictive than I thought it would be".
"People still love community footy and having blokes with profile and talent go back is so good," he said.
"My little fee compared with what the clubs make - you can't tell me it's not worth it."
But as usual, controversy has followed Akermanis.
In 2011, he played a match for Milawa in the Ovens and King league and created a stir when he labelled opponents Tarrawingee the dirtiest team he had played against.
In June last year, an offshore bookmaker took bets on a Gippsland league game when he lined up for Morwell.
He will play at two more clubs this year, on weeks when North Albury has a break.
"I might have pretty much invented the 'don't stick at one (club)' style, because it's better for the player," he said.
"I've coached at 24 clubs in the past two years and I could not have got better grounding for coaching."
