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Fitzgerald available
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Kane McGoodwin
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- May 21, 2001
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Must say I would have played him if fit off the bench, but I'm not a selector! They must want to give him a full game for South. Surely he will play though if we make the GF (along with Hewitt, Gallagher, Massie, etc).
With a player like Fitzgerald who is prone to constant break down surely the smarter thing would be to give him a run out with his local club to see if he lasts. Rather than taking the chance of him breaking down tonight and us being a player short.
Kane McGoodwin
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- May 21, 2001
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Whoo hooo, we finally got him on the park. Hopefully he can stay injury-free & assist Stevo out in the forward line. If Fitzy does stay fit, I reckon the Crows are in for a good year, as he demonstrated today he will make a good marking target.
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Fitzy's on the road back
Alan Shiell
afc.com.au
5:55:11 PM Mon 18 March, 2002
Big Ryan Fitzgerald – all 199 centimetres and 96 kilograms of him – is looking good again.
You can’t say he’s smiling again because he’s a happy-go-lucky character who’s always smiling.
It’s just that he hasn’t had much to smile about over the past three seasons with injuries – shoulder reconstructions, a hernia operation and a knee reconstruction - restricting him to just 10 AFL matches with Sydney.
But, having recovered from his latest setback – surgery to remove a cyst from his left knee in the third week of last month – Fitzgerald finally played his first game for Adelaide last Saturday, against Geelong in a practice match at Murray Bridge’s Johnstone Park, and came through it with renewed confidence.
He looked the part, too, taking some big marks and kicking two goals – and he would have had five if he had kicked straighter in the hot, but occasionally windy, conditions.
So how did Fitzgerald pull up?
“Excellent,” he said in his booming, inimitable drawl. “It was good to get a bit of a hit-out.
“I’ve just been watching the footy the last month so it was good to get out on the track and have three quarters.
“I struggled a little bit with fitness but I got a little bit of confidence, which is what I was looking for.
“Ayresy (coach Gary Ayres) just said to me it was a trial game and to just go for my grabs.
“I’ve been down a little bit with confidence lately, with my marking and just with my knee, so it was good to get out there and take a couple of pack marks.
“Just to be out on the ground again, that’s what I wanted. It’s good to be playing instead of watching.”
Fitzgerald, 25, had a meteoric rise to AFL ranks after playing his junior and early senior football with Port Noarlunga in the Southern League before starring as a strong-marking forward for South Adelaide in the 1998 SANFL season and being taken by Sydney as the No. 4 pick at the national draft late that year.
He will play for South against Glenelg at Noarlunga Oval on Saturday in the opening round of the SANFL’s new season, and he hopes to be in the Crows’ team to play the Western Bulldogs at Colonial Stadium eight days later (Sunday, March 31) in round one of the AFL’s premiership season.
“I had a month off after I had the cyst removed and my fitness has been down a little bit lately,” Fitzgerald said. “I’ve been doing extra sessions with (fitness coach) Stephen Schwerdt.
“It would be good to go back to the Panthers this week and have a full game, maybe at centre half-forward or full forward, and get a bit more confidence up.
“My body’s feeling very good at the moment. The knee’s pulling up really well. That’s my aim – to get into the Crows in round one, but if not, then round two.
“It was frustrating with all the injuries I had over in Sydney. I just thought if I come back here and have a fresh start, it’ll be all out of the way.
“But to get another cyst and to have another operation was very disappointing. But it’s pulled up very well and I’ve been happy with it. Hopefully I can just concentrate on footy now.
“It doesn’t matter how much fitness you do, when it comes to match fitness it always takes a few games.
“Obviously it’s going to take a bit longer and I think a couple more games under my belt would be good, but my fitness is getting better every week.
“And at the weekend, even though I was blowing a bit at the end, I felt I actually pulled up really well.
“So this week will be the test when I play a full game, but my body’s feeling very good and each week I’ll get fitter and fitter.”
Alan Shiell
afc.com.au
5:55:11 PM Mon 18 March, 2002
Big Ryan Fitzgerald – all 199 centimetres and 96 kilograms of him – is looking good again.
You can’t say he’s smiling again because he’s a happy-go-lucky character who’s always smiling.
It’s just that he hasn’t had much to smile about over the past three seasons with injuries – shoulder reconstructions, a hernia operation and a knee reconstruction - restricting him to just 10 AFL matches with Sydney.
But, having recovered from his latest setback – surgery to remove a cyst from his left knee in the third week of last month – Fitzgerald finally played his first game for Adelaide last Saturday, against Geelong in a practice match at Murray Bridge’s Johnstone Park, and came through it with renewed confidence.
He looked the part, too, taking some big marks and kicking two goals – and he would have had five if he had kicked straighter in the hot, but occasionally windy, conditions.
So how did Fitzgerald pull up?
“Excellent,” he said in his booming, inimitable drawl. “It was good to get a bit of a hit-out.
“I’ve just been watching the footy the last month so it was good to get out on the track and have three quarters.
“I struggled a little bit with fitness but I got a little bit of confidence, which is what I was looking for.
“Ayresy (coach Gary Ayres) just said to me it was a trial game and to just go for my grabs.
“I’ve been down a little bit with confidence lately, with my marking and just with my knee, so it was good to get out there and take a couple of pack marks.
“Just to be out on the ground again, that’s what I wanted. It’s good to be playing instead of watching.”
Fitzgerald, 25, had a meteoric rise to AFL ranks after playing his junior and early senior football with Port Noarlunga in the Southern League before starring as a strong-marking forward for South Adelaide in the 1998 SANFL season and being taken by Sydney as the No. 4 pick at the national draft late that year.
He will play for South against Glenelg at Noarlunga Oval on Saturday in the opening round of the SANFL’s new season, and he hopes to be in the Crows’ team to play the Western Bulldogs at Colonial Stadium eight days later (Sunday, March 31) in round one of the AFL’s premiership season.
“I had a month off after I had the cyst removed and my fitness has been down a little bit lately,” Fitzgerald said. “I’ve been doing extra sessions with (fitness coach) Stephen Schwerdt.
“It would be good to go back to the Panthers this week and have a full game, maybe at centre half-forward or full forward, and get a bit more confidence up.
“My body’s feeling very good at the moment. The knee’s pulling up really well. That’s my aim – to get into the Crows in round one, but if not, then round two.
“It was frustrating with all the injuries I had over in Sydney. I just thought if I come back here and have a fresh start, it’ll be all out of the way.
“But to get another cyst and to have another operation was very disappointing. But it’s pulled up very well and I’ve been happy with it. Hopefully I can just concentrate on footy now.
“It doesn’t matter how much fitness you do, when it comes to match fitness it always takes a few games.
“Obviously it’s going to take a bit longer and I think a couple more games under my belt would be good, but my fitness is getting better every week.
“And at the weekend, even though I was blowing a bit at the end, I felt I actually pulled up really well.
“So this week will be the test when I play a full game, but my body’s feeling very good and each week I’ll get fitter and fitter.”
