These are just some articles that I found interesting about
our boys:
Lions the greatest
5:34:47 PM Sat 27 September, 2003
Paul Gough
afl.com.au
Its official. The Brisbane Lions of 2001-2003 are the greatest team in the history of Australian Rules football after becoming
the first team in the modern era to win three successive AFL premierships on Saturday.
The Lions and coach Leigh Matthews
gained immortal status by completing their hat-trick in style thrashing Collingwood 20.14 (134) to 12.12 (84) at the MCG.
And
now they will have the chance of equalling Collingwoods record of being the only club to win four premierships in a row from
1927-30 next season. The Lions are the first team to achieve the hat-trick of premierships since Melbourne in 1957 but
the first to do in the days of salary caps and drafts which were supposed to even up the competition and make it impossible
to achieve what the Lions have done.
But no-one told that to the Lions fab four midfield of skipper Michael Voss, fellow
Brownlow Medalists Simon Black and Jason Akermanis and Nigel Lappin, who simply destroyed an outclassed Collingwood on Saturday.
Add
to that the amazing longevity of players such as 35-year-old spearhead Alastair Lynch, who kicked four goals on Saturday,
and midfielder Shaun Hart and it all adds up to one fantastic football team.
Dynamic midfielder Jason Akermanis is relieved that he is finally about to receive the financial recognition from
the Brisbane Lions he believes he deserves.
The 2001 Brownlow Medalist has agreed to terms on a new two-year contract
that will tie him to the club until the end of 2005.
Akermanis agrees to terms
2:48:55 PM Tue 23 September, 2003
Barry Levinson
afl.com.au
Dynamic midfielder Jason Akermanis is relieved that he is finally about to receive the financial recognition from
the Brisbane Lions he believes he deserves.
The 2001 Brownlow Medalist has agreed to terms on a new
I wanted a four (year deal) initially, but the club
would only go three years and I thought that Id have a bit more bargaining power in another two years, Akermanis said after
announcing the agreement.
Im still only 26, Ill be 28 at the end of that period.
From my point of view, all
parties are relatively pleased and Ill probably sign that next week.
Akermanis, who does not have a manager and negotiated his own contract with the Lions, spoke of his frustration of being
underappreciated by the club, for both his efforts as a footballer and his ability to draw people through the gates with his
high profile.
The midfielder, who will be part of the Brisbane team shooting for its third premiership in succession
against Collingwood on Saturday, revealed that he was forced into floating the idea through the media of leaving the Lions
and considering a move to Sydney.
I was the one who was leaking the stories, because I had to, Akermanis admitted.
I really felt like the club was taking me for granted in many ways. If you all knew what other players made not that
its a value but just to think that being a local player you are so much undervalued.
It (the new deal) worked well.
I was one of the few guys that actually got a pay rise this year because of the (salary) cap (increase). I think Ive earned
it.
A worried Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews believes his side is just hanging in there at the moment.
In
going down to Essendon by eight points at Telstra Dome on Saturday night, the Lions have now lost four of their last six matches.
At
the post-match media conference, Matthews spoke of the many and varied problems with having all his players fit and healthy.
Weve
had issues getting a healthy list and its very hard to play well unless youve got a healthy list. And that healthy means match-conditioned,
fit, strong, feeling good about their bodies, Matthews said.
Of course Im worried. Were not playing well. I mean, were
just hanging in there. Theyre trying pretty hard our guys. Thats all we can do.
Were not in any shape or form delirious
with our position that we find ourselves in.
Matthews thought the depleted line-up left little room for error, requiring
all players to be at, or close to, the top of their game.
The capabilities of the team were fielding at the moment
have a limit I think. Everybody has to be pulling their weight, he said.
Weve just got to keep persevering and battling
our way through and working to make the wheel turn a little bit more favourably from our point of view.
Did he believe
the side at the moment was capable of finishing top?
Not with the level that weve produced this last few weeks.
Theres
no use limping into September. If youre going to qualify for September you might as well be playing well. We had a good enough
first eight or nine weeks to have built a good base to the season but a bad patch has come.
Former Essendon premiership player Blake Caracella will join the Brisbane Lions next year in a complicated three-way
trade that will send the Lions homesick Western Australian Des Headland to the Fremantle Dockers.
Caracella, a classy
25-year-old forward/midfielder, will bring the experience of six years, 126 games and the 2000 premiership campaign to the
Lions via a trade that releases Lions youngster Damian Cupido to Essendon for salary cap reasons.
Lions coach Leigh
Matthews described Caracella, presently on holidays in Hawaii, as a quality, medium-height goal-kicking flanker who would
add to the Lions playing mix as they chase a premiership hat-trick in 2003.
Alastair Lynch could be the oldest player in the AFL next year after committing to a 16th season with the Brisbane
Lions.
Lynch, holidaying with his family, telephoned coach Leigh Matthews late yesterday to confirm that he would play
on in 2003 after three weeks' contemplating retirement since the Lions secured back-to-back premiership flags late last month.
It would have been a tempting way for the 271-game veteran to go out after
he was called to the podium by captain Michael Voss to receive the 2002 premiership cup with him.
But Lynch said the
lure of a possible premiership hat-trick had prompted his decision to play on. "The club is in a unique position to be successful
again next year and I want to be part of it," he said.
The decision is good news for coach Matthews, who would not
have fancied life without his No.1 forward next year as the club looks to become just the fifth team in AFL history to win
three premierships in a row.
Akermanis' groin injury could have cost him 2003 season
By Bill McDonald Brisbane October
12 2002
Brisbane star Jason Akermanis could have missed next season, had he not sought
immediate post-season treatment for a groin injury he aggravated in last month's premiership decider against Collingwood.
Akermanis revealed he tore the muscle near the pelvis during the round 22
clash against Port Adelaide, and carried it through the finals until early in the grand final when it got noticeably worse. He
saw out the match, and following scans had surgery in Sydney on Wednesday, where the severity of the injury stunned his doctor.
"The surgeon looked at it and has gone 'you've torn this off the bone, what
the hell are you doing? You shouldn't be walking, shouldn't be be doing anything' - he couldn't believe that I played three
quarters on it," Akermanis said.
Had he completely ripped the muscle off the bone, he may have been looking
at a lengthy stint on the sideline; in fact, had he had alternate treatment he would have missed 2003 altogether. "If
I'd gone to a different surgeon, they might have scraped the actual bone itself, that would have been eight months, but this
is a lot better and a lot safer."
Dashing premiership midfielder Des Headland has quit Brisbane.
The former No. 1 draft pick told the Lions of his decision this week, citing
family reasons for his desire to return home to Western Australia.
Headland, who comes out of contract at the end of the month, is now back
in Perth with partner Chantelle awaiting the birth of their second child on Monday.
He is expected to make the announcement after the birth.
Headland, 21, wants to play for West Coast or Fremantle next year if a deal
can be done with the Lions.
But he understands he is at the mercy of the AFL system.
He hopes the Lions will see the reasons behind his need to return to WA with
his young family and accept that he has given them good service over four years.
