The 2001 Brownlow medallist made the accusation after playing for Milawa last year against Tarrawingee.

He finished the match with a sore jaw and a welt on his head that he said were the result of several off-the-ball incidents.

Akermanis said nothing had changed his opinion after playing 15 similar one-off matches nationwide.

“By a mile,” he said yesterday. “Tarrawingee are the dirtiest team I have ever played against.

“The whole team was trying to be heroes.

“If they think that’s tough — they got their butts absolutely kicked by 72 points.

“That’s because they refused to go the ball and just wanted to go the man.

“We had loose players everywhere because there was four players on me every time — I thought to myself, ‘are you guys serious’?” Akermanis said.

While controversy and Akermanis are never far apart, he said he had been well received by most opposition clubs besides Tarrawingee.

“Let’s play hard, fair and tough but let’s not be stupid,” he said.

“I was there to help their league and get blokes no one ever hears about in the public eye.”