This opinion piece by The Age’s late columnist Robert Walls was first published on May 22, 2009. It was January 1995. The Brisbane Bears were having their pre-season training camp just north of Noosa. We drove up from Brisbane in private cars and, as coach, I took three teenage kids who were old enough to be on the senior list, but too young to have a licence. The last lad I picked up was short, ginger-haired and freckle-faced. Jason Akermanis was his name. He lived with his mum who was on her own raising her two boys. The year before, as a schoolboy, “Aka” had played Teal Cup for Queensland. He stood out with his exceptional pace. In those days, the Bears could take the pick of the Queensland kids, so Jason joined Michael Voss and Marcus Ashcroft, who had been taken in previous years, as local 17-year-olds. Aka jumped in the car talked non-stop, but he didn’t really say anything. It was my first introduction to his world. He was different. Did the incessant talk indicate a lack of confidence? With no father in his life, was there an insecurity? Did he feel a need to prove himself?