Brad Fittler

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Brad Fittler
Personal information
Full name	Bradley Scott Fittler
Nickname	Freddy
Born	5 February 1972 (1972-02-05) (age 36)
	Auburn, New South Wales, Australia
Position	Five-eighth
Club information
Years	Team	App	T	G	FG	P
1989–1995	Penrith Panthers	119	31	5	2	136
1996–2004	Sydney Roosters	217	91	9	8	390
	Total	336	122	14	10	526
Representative information
Years	Team	App	T	G	FG	P
1990	City Firsts	1	1	0	0	4
1990–2004	New South Wales	31	8	0	2	34
1991–1997	City Origin	7	1	0	0	4
1991–2001	Australia	34	14	1	1	59
Coaching information
Years	Team	Pld	W%	Premierships
since 2007	Sydney Roosters	9	66	none
As at 15 March 2008 Source: NRL Stats

Bradley Scott Fittler, AM, (born 5 February 1972, in Auburn, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league player and current coach of the Sydney Roosters. He has captained both the New South Wales and Australian teams, and in 2000 was awarded the Golden Boot award.

[edit] Football career

Fittler's first grade career started in 1989 at the Penrith Panthers while he was still in high school. He played in Penrith's 1990 Grand Final loss, then in the Premiership winning side of 1991. In 1996, he joined the Sydney Roosters where he played nine seasons, captaining them to the 2002 Grand Final victory. Fittler is second behind Terry Lamb as the most experienced first grader, having played 336 games, scoring 122 tries.

Fittler represented the Australian Schoolboys from McCarthy Catholic College in 1988 and 1989. He was selected for Kangaroo Tours in 1990, 1994 and 2001 and played in the World Cups of 1992, 1995 and 2000.

Early in his career Fittler struggled with discipline problems, but he matured into a fine leader. He captained Australia in 20 Tests, winning 17 and losing 3, and in a further 5 victories in the 2000 World Cup. He also captained NSW in 14 State of Origin matches, winning 8 and losing 6. In club competition, he captained the Roosters to their first grand final appearance in twenty seasons in 2000, a Premiership in 2002 and successive grand final appearances in 2003 and 2004, before retiring at the end of 2004.

Two years after Fittler announced his retirement from representative football, NSW coach Phil Gould brought him back to State of Origin for the second and third game. Both he and Gould were farewelled in the last game at Telstra Stadium after he scored the winning try that sealed the NSW victory.

Fittler remains the youngest NSW State of Origin player (18 years 114 days) and was once the youngest Kangaroo representative (18 years 247 days) until Israel Folau made his debut in late 2007. Fittler played more total matches (409 combining club and representative games) than any other player.

[edit] Media career

Fittler presents a weekly footy tipping segment on the Today show. Fittler also co-hosts NRL Deluxe, a streaming video show on Mondays and Thursdays available via Bigpond TV. It is unknown if his media commitments will continue following his promotion to coach.

[edit] Coaching career

On 9 July 2007, Rooster's coach Chris Anderson quit the club, just 48 hours after the team lost 56–0 to the Manly Sea Eagles, their second worst ever loss. Fittler took over the coaching from Round 18, in what was initially for a short term until the end of the 2007 season. The Roosters, who were sitting near the bottom of the competition and struggling with form, turned a corner with Fittler as coach as they went on to post some impressive wins. His first match was against his former mentor, Ricky Stuart coaching the Cronulla Sharks. The Roosters won the match 23–12. His second match was against the Newcastle Knights and again the team was successful 20–17.

On the 27 July 2007, Fittler's coaching career took a massive leap. The Roosters side defeated the Melbourne Storm [front runners of the Premiership] 26–16, with the two late consolation tries to the Storms misrepresenting the match. Former Roosters coach, Phil Gould remarked after the Melbourne game "I've always had great confidence that "Freddie" would be successful at anything he turned his mind to. If he truly wants to be a coach, he'll be a bloody good one... I think in the end he was drawn to it and, to me, that's a coach. You don't wake up one day and say, 'I want to be a coach'. You are drawn to it. It compels you. I see and hear this in Freddie these days.^[1]

Following the win over the Melbourne Storm, the Roosters went up against the New Zealand Warriors with the match resulting in the first draw since 2005 after a hard fought golden point period which ended with the score 31–31. The result was good enough to keep Fittler undefeated as coach.

That run was extended against the Wests Tigers on Friday, 10 August, with the second golden point game in a row for the club after a late field goal attempt from Braith Anasta hit the cross bar with 15 seconds to go. The game ended in a 26–22 win after Anasta broke the line and passed to Amos Roberts who then set up Joel Monaghan for the winning try.

Unfortunately, Fittler's winning streak as a coach was broken on the 19 August 2007 when the Roosters played the Gold Coast Titans, losing 22–18. The following week, in the penulitmate round of the regular season, the Roosters lost to the eventual 2007 wooden spooners, the Penrith Panthers, 28–22.

In the final round of the season the Roosters defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs, 26–12. The game was highly controversial with Souths forward David Fa'alogo king hitting Roosters five-eighth Braith Anasta.

On 21 August 2007 the Sydney Roosters signed Brad Fittler as their full time Head Coach until the 2010 season.

[edit] Legacy

Brad Fittler was known to be an extremely influential five-eighth. His ability to work under pressure and get his team back on the board is second to none. Brad Fittler often throughout his career displayed tremendous amount of speed by putting a left foot step, breaking the line and running 70 metres to score. He was also known to throw devestating cut out passes and towering bombs. Brad Fittler is also known to be the heart of the Sydney Roosters Outfit. With his influence the Roosters were the most dominant team, finishing in the top 8 every year he was present and often topping the ladder for most of the year. With Brad Fittler absent, The Roosters failed able to reach the top 8 for 3 years. With him back in the team as coach they are again on the top half of the ladder and looking finals bound.

[edit] Outside rugby league

In 2000 Fittler was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. His autobiography, Freddy: The Brad Fittler Story, was published in 2005. He was named a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

In February 2008, Fittler was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. ^[2]

Fittler has a long time partner, Marie Liarris. They have two children together, a daughter, Demi, and a son, Zach.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Brad Fittler at the State of Origin official website.
• 2001 Ashes profile