In a promoter's dream, outspoken onballer Jason Akermanis has been drawn to meet his former AFL club Brisbane Lions for the first time at the Gabba on June 9.

The Lions may have been keen to see the back of triple premiership player Akermanis when he left for the Western Bulldogs after a bitter fallout in the 2006 season.

But Brisbane chief executive Michael Bowers couldn't believe his luck when the 2007 AFL draw revealed the once beloved Lion would reunite with his former club at the Gabba.

As a result, Bowers said promoting the round 11 Brisbane-Bulldogs clash would not be a problem.

"Jason is a bit of a marketing machine himself so we might just hand it over to him so he can do the job," Bowers told the Nine Network.

Akermanis won premierships and a 2001 Brownlow Medal with Brisbane but fell out with the Lions in spectacular fashion this season.

Following a much publicised stoush with coach Leigh Matthews, the champion midfielder was dropped twice and did not see out the season after the club's match committee and senior players axed him for failing to abide by team principles.

Earlier this month the Lions traded Akermanis for pick No.34 in the national draft.

Brisbane was one of the 2007 draw's big winners.

The Lions will only have to travel to Perth and Adelaide once in 2007 and play only three of this year's top eight twice.

Apart from its 11 home games at the Gabba, Brisbane will also play "away" games against the Kangaroos at Carrara in round five and Melbourne at the Gabba in round 15.

It means it will leave Queensland just nine times and never in consecutive weeks.

The only downer was its season start - Brisbane kick-starts 2007 with two games at the Gabba just five days apart, with the second of those an Easter Thursday clash with St Kilda.

"Overall we are satisfied with the outcome of next year's fixture," Bowers said.

"Our travel burden is lessened with only four shortened breaks between matches and no consecutive interstate games.

"We will also hope to benefit from a reasonable start to the season, in which we play five of the first seven matches in Queensland."

Bowers hoped the Carrara clash against the Kangaroos would become an annual event.

"We are excited to be playing what we hope will become a regular fixture against the Kangaroos at Carrara," he said.

"It not only offers further opportunities to help strengthen the presence of AFL in Queensland but also helps develop a healthy Gold Coast rivalry between the two clubs".

Meanwhile, Brisbane will play its NAB Cup pre-season first round clash against St Kilda in Cairns on February 24.

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