From a football point of view, it makes complete sense for Jason Akermanis to shut down any and every possible distraction for the next three weeks as he overcomes a hamstring twinge that has kept him from playing close to his best footy for the last seven weeks.

Akermanis is 33, and 33-year-old hamstrings don't recover like they used to.

He plays for a club whose premiership window is open - only just - if the form of the last few weeks can be taken into consideration and footy history is full of teams whose players made sacrifices and went the extra mile to give themselves the best preparation possible for an assault on the premiership.

So from that perspective, well done, Aker. A bit of rest, a couple of VFL games for Williamstown, and he should be cherry ripe for the run home to the finals. Fit and focussed, he still commands a place in the Bulldogs' best 22.

But why the disciplinary issues? The Bulldogs knew at the start of the year that Akermanis would undertake a heavier media load than in the past given that his base playing salary had been slashed to a fraction of what it was.

If he is being punished for the content of his colourful Herald Sun column about gay footballers in the AFL, then why the two week wait to dole it out? It smacks of convenience and raises the question about whether steps would have been taken had the Bulldogs beaten Essendon last week with Aker having 30 touches and booting five goals.

If it is because Akermanis misled the club over his claims that the column that appeared may have been touched by the Herald Sun before publication, then we again could surmise that had Aker and the Dogs been travelling that little bit better that this indiscretion may have been swept under the carpet. How it took a week to establish that fact is staggering.

It also should be asked why the now injury-riddled Brad Johnson is permitted to do all the media he wants, including sitting with the Channel Seven commentators every couple of weeks, doling out special comments on Friday Night Football. Isn't he older than Akermanis, and injured as well?

It looks as though after three and a half seasons, the Bulldogs finally have discovered what you get with Akermanis and that you can sweep him and his foibles under the carpet when you're winning, but not quite as easily when you're not.

How Akermanis will cope without getting his media gigs for the next three weeks is anyone's guess. Do Facebook and Twitter count? Already there are a couple of fake 'Aker' accounts on the microblogging site.

The Herald Sun and Channel Nine have enough talent in reserve but MTR will miss him. As soon as the controversy erupted, Melbourne's new talk station rushed a series of ads featuring Akermanis to air. The free publicity and the TV news crews parked in the studio each morning have been worth their weight in gold.

And given that the views expressed by Akermanis in the Herald Sun column are likely to play with well with the right-of-centre market MTR is courting, Steve Price will not just be counting the days till he gets him back on the air, but counting the months till he retires from football and will no longer be constrained from saying what a football club might find unacceptable.