Playing career Brad Fittler

1 playing career

1.1 penrith panthers
1.2 sydney roosters
1.3 auckland nines

playing career
penrith panthers

brad fittler s first grade career started in 1989 @ penrith panthers while still attending mccarthy catholic senior high school in western suburbs of sydney.

fittler played in centres in penrith s 18-14 loss canberra raiders in 1990 grand final , @ end of season selected australia , went on 1990 kangaroo tour of great britain , france. during tour before first test @ wembley stadium in london, kangaroos had met hrh prince philip, duke of edinburgh. fittler, 18 @ time , youngest ever kangaroo tourist, had reportedly broken protocol when meeting hrh saying g day dude . fittler did not play in test on tour, played in 8 tour games , scored 8 tries.

the following year in panthers premiership winning-side of 1991. fittler played in centres penrith, under coaching of phil gould won first ever premiership. @ end of season selected kangaroos 5 game tour of papua new guinea , made test debut australia, playing @ lock in australia s 2 test series win against papua new guinea kumuls, scoring 2 tries on debut @ danny leahy oval in goroka. fittler played in 5 games during two-week tour , scored 4 tries.

during 1992 great britain lions tour of australia , new zealand, helped australia retain ashes. fittler, rest of penrith club, endured tough 1992 season due death of best mate, up-and-coming halfback/hooker ben alexander, younger brother of penrith captain greg alexander. following alexander s death in car accident, penrith s form dropped off in second half of season defending premiers finishing out of finals in 9th place. result of alexander s death happened between first , second ashes tests, fittler left out of second test team own request, returned team in deciding match in brisbane australia won 16-10 retain ashes.

at end of 1992 season, fittler selected in australia s world cup final team play great britain @ wembley stadium. in front of international record attendance of 73,631 australian s retained rugby league world cup hard fought 10-6 win. during first half, fittler suffered fractured cheekbone after being hit elbow lions hooker martin dermott had gone tackle australian five-eighth elbow cocked. after being checked team doctor nathan gibbs, fittler continued playing.

the 1993 nswrl season again saw panthers struggle, finishing 12th 7-15 record year. fittler played 3 games nsw in 2-1 origin series win on queensland, before playing in 3 mid-year tests against new zealand australia winning series 2-0 after first test @ mount smart stadium in auckland ended in 14-all draw late field goal stand in australian captain laurie daley.

penrith improved 10-10-2 record , 8th-place finish in 1994 nswrl season, despite late season walk-out of phil gould (who moving coach sydney city roosters after falling out penrith club board) replaced fittler s 1991 premiership team mate royce simmons. during year selected @ lock test against france @ sydney s parramatta stadium (won 58-0 australia) , @ end of season selected second kangaroo tour. fittler played @ lock in 4 tests against great britain (3) , france (1) on tour, winning man of match in australia s 38-8 win in second test @ old trafford in manchester keep ashes series alive. kangaroos went on win third test 23-4 retain ashes before demolishing france world record 74-0 win in béziers. fittler played in 12 games on tour (one replacement), scoring 2 tries. named man of match playing @ lock in australia s non-test international played against wales in cardiff, scoring 1 of tours 2 tries in wet conditions (his other try come in tours 3rd last game in france when scored against catalans seclection in 60-16 win @ stade gilbert brutus in perpignan).

by 1995 fittler world s highest-paid rugby league player, reportedly earning $1.05 million season. during period of super league war when player payments rose unheard of levels both australian rugby league (arl), backed media billionaire kerry packer, , rebel super league (sl), backed news ltd., signed players (in cases) double or triple previous contracts. fittler signed australian rugby league.

with arl refusing select sl aligned players representative football, fittler given captaincy of nsw origin team 1995 state of origin series against queensland. coached rookie coach paul vautin, , bunch of untried players not being able call upon usual origin , test stars (mostly sl aligned brisbane broncos), qld not given chance of defeating blues (who still call on number of experienced origin , test players), came away 3-0 whitewash first series win since 1991. however, despite this, fittler given australian captaincy 3-test trans-tasman series against new zealand making him australia s youngest captain (23) since reg gasnier had first captained australia in 1962. fittler led kangaroos 3-0 sweep of kiwis, including winning man of match in 20-10 second test win @ sydney football stadium.

at end of 1995 arl season, fittler automatic choice captain australia in 1995 rugby league world cup. although kangaroos suffered shock 20-16 loss england in opening game of tournament @ wembley, , had nervous, 30-20 win on new zealand in extra-time in semi-final in huddersfield after scores had been locked @ 20-all @ end of regulation time, fittler lead australia 8th world cup success (and 5th in row) 18-8 win on england in front of 66,540 fans @ wembley.

sydney roosters

in 1996, joined sydney city roosters played 9 seasons, captaining them 2002 nrl grand final victory. fittler retired second experienced first grader, behind terry lamb (349), having played 336 games.

the rothmans medal player of 1997 arl premiership awarded sydney city roosters captain , five-eighth, fittler.

he selected kangaroo tours in 1990, 1994 , 2001 , played in world cups of 1992, 1995 , 2000. fittler selected australian team compete in end of season 1999 rugby league tri-nations tournament. in final against new zealand captained kangaroos @ lock forward in 22-20 victory. in career fittler struggled discipline problems, matured fine leader. captained australia in 20 tests, winning 17 , losing 3, , in further 5 victories in 2000 world cup. captained nsw in 14 state of origin matches, winning 8 , losing 6.

in club competition, fittler captained roosters 2000 nrl grand final, first in twenty seasons, premiership in 2002 , successive grand final appearances in 2003 , 2004, before retiring @ end of 2004. having won 2002 nrl premiership, roosters traveled england play 2003 world club challenge against super league champions, st helens r.f.c.. fittler captained @ five-eighth, scoring try in sydney s victory.

two years after fittler announced retirement representative football, nsw coach phil gould brought him state of origin second , third game. both , gould farewelled in last game @ telstra stadium after scored winning try sealed nsw victory.

fittler remains youngest nsw state of origin player (18 years 114 days) , once youngest kangaroo representative (18 years 247 days) until israel folau made debut in late 2007.

as tribute fittler s contribution nsw team, brad fittler medal named in honour, awarded best nsw player after each series victory nsw. however, awarded after nsw have won series; , not awarded 2005 till 2014, queensland having won each series in intervening years. in 2014 jointly awarded jarryd hayne , ryan hoffman.

auckland nines

brad fittler playing in nrl nines 2014

in february 2014, @ 42 years of age, fittler came out of retirement one-off showing @ nrl auckland nines. representing sydney roosters, made tackle on prop forward fui fui moi moi in loss parramatta eels, before clipping ben barba high in tackle, , scoring 75-metre intercept try off david stagg pass in win on brisbane broncos, first try in 10 years.