Jason Akermanis Sacked Podcast revelation: Barry Hall cost me $2.5m

Controversial AFL great Jason Akermanis claims Barry Hall “killed” his career, cost him more than $2 million and his fairy tale farewell.

Footscray wasn't big enough for Jason Akermanis and Barry Hall.

Controversial AFL great Jason Akermanis has claimed Barry Hall cost him more than $2 million when the star forward made his dramatic move to the Western Bulldogs.

Akermanis says Hall’s arrival ultimately derailed his fairytale farewell retirement plans in a decision he believes has left him out in the cold from the entire footy industry since his retirement in 2010.

The staggering claim is just one of many dramatic revelations made by the Brownlow Medallist during this week’s episode of the highly-acclaimed SACKED Podcast.

The Herald Sun Podcast reveals Akermanis still believes his decision not to go out on a high at the end of the 2009 season — before Hall’s arrival from the Swans — cost him more than $2 million in potential post playing-career earnings in football.

Akermanis says he has been “laughed at” when applying for jobs in football over the last 10 years — but doesn’t think that would be the case had he hung up the boots at the end of 2009 where he finished the season as the Western Bulldogs’ only player to kick more than 40 goals for the season.

In 2010, his final season in the AFL, Akermanis finished with two goals from nine games. Hall was the top goal kicker in the league and finished with 80 goals.

It still eats away at the former Brisbane Lions premiership star.

Jason Akermanis was Robin to Barry Hall’s Batman.

When asked to reveal the biggest regrets from his rollercoaster 16-year career, Akermanis said: “Barry Hall coming (to the Bulldogs) killed my career.

“I was the leading goal kicker in 2009. Maybe that was the time. It certainly would have been better for the future if I was working in the AFL. In ten years since, I’ve had nothing. I’ve been for jobs and got laughed at.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow.”

When asked to estimate the financial cost of the decision to play on in 2010, the 43-year-old said his “minimum” estimate was between $2 million and $2.5 million.

“Not retiring at that stage. The feel-good scenario would have been far better,” Akermanis said.

“Leading goalkicker 2009, preliminary final. Going into next year, 2010, Barry Hall comes.

“Barry and I are like 10 days apart. The boys were kicking to him when they should have been not kicking to him sometimes and that’s what happens in footy because he’s so big and stands out.”

The Herald Sun reports Akermanis’ demotion to playing Hall’s sidekick in the Dogs’ forward line didn’t sit well with the outspoken star — and it led to him falling out with senior players at the club.

He was sacked six weeks out from the start of the 2010 finals series.

Not like this.

His career was over.

The club tore up his contract after he had been called into a meeting with senior officials. He was reportedly told he had lost the trust of his teammates. He reportedly broke down in tears after being told he was a distraction the club wanted to do without heading into the 2010 finals.

It came after he penned a controversial column earlier in the season where he suggested gay AFL players should stay in the closet.

He was also accused of leaking details about a private meeting of the Bulldogs’ playing group that same year — an accusation he continues to deny in the SACKED Podcast.

“What I believe happened was a couple of players said ‘I am not going to play with him’ and then Rodney (coach Rodney Eade) put a line through you and you’re gone,” he said.

Did Barry Hall end Aker’s career? 👀#SACKED | Jason Akermanis - The greatest showman
LISTEN | https://t.co/5R4wfFBt9a pic.twitter.com/s94ddcyMRz

— SuperFooty (AFL) (@superfooty) May 1, 2020

Akermanis is still hoping he wins one final chance to return to football in a coaching capacity.

He told The AFL Record last month the public perception of him as a renegade operator without remorse is actually far from the truth.

“Over the journey, I’ve given more to the group, more inside the club, more to the game than most, and been part of successful teams, yet you get lumped with that perception,” he said.

“Am I missing something here? Do people think that success was just a fluke? You still need to work well with people around you.

“To get to 300 games, you have to be doing a lot of things right consistently. You don’t get there by being selfish and undisciplined. No one could ever say I didn’t get the most out of myself.”