One of the most decorated coaches in the history of the Peter Jackson VFL says goodbye to the club he has become synonymous with on Saturday.
North Ballarat’s triple premiership-winning mentor Gerard FitzGerald will leave the Roosters after their final match of 2015 against Coburg at Eureka Stadium as a true ambassador of the VFL competition.
He is the record-holder for most games coached in VFL history (Saturday’s game will be his 345th) and is one of only four VFL/VFA coaches to have led their team to three consecutive premierships (in 2008-10).
FitzGerald started his VFL coaching journey in 1997 at North Ballarat having previously played three games at the elite level for Geelong in 1977 and coaching a variety of local country clubs while also pursuing a teaching career.
He said receiving that first opportunity at the Roosters ranked as one of the most memorable moments of his coaching career.
“The club showed faith in a country coach who wanted to continue to grow and develop as a coach – I was given a chance and I’ll always cherish that,” FitzGerald said.
“I’ve always appreciated the faith the club showed in me.”
After joining the VFL in 1996, just two seasons later – in FitzGerald’s second year as coach – North Ballarat reached a preliminary final.
In 1999 and 2000, the Roosters rose further, losing Grand Finals to Springvale and Sandringham respectively, with FitzGerald being named coach of the VFL Team of the Year in 2000.
But his incredible adaptability is illustrated in the fact that during his first stint at North Ballarat from 1997 to 2002, the mission wasn’t just about winning games of football.
“We were trying to build a club – and we were trying to convince people that we could do it,” FitzGerald said.
“As a club based in Ballarat and taking on some clubs that had been playing for over 100 years in this competition, we had to overcome the doubts and just achieve some belief and confidence.
“Back then, coaching was more about trying to grow and develop that club from just being a part of Ballarat to being Ballarat’s club.”
Since that time, FitzGerald has coached Springvale in 2003, Port Melbourne in 2004 and the North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup in 2005 and 2006, before returning to again take the reins at the Roosters in 2007.
Each experience has forced him to adapt as a coach, with the Springvale job being a part-time position and Port Melbourne a full-time role, while at the Rebels he went back to dealing with kids as he had in his life as a teacher.
“I enjoyed it enormously,” FitzGerald said of his two years in the TAC Cup.
“I enjoyed nurturing and developing the talent and I enjoyed being an influence on boys’ lives in their 17th and 18th years.
“My teaching background helped me then and helps me even with what I’m doing today, as I prepare training, as I provide feedback and deal with the complexities of human nature.”
Upon returning to coaching senior football at North Ballarat, FitzGerald had to change his game again.
It reaped rewards almost straight away, with the Roosters marching to premierships in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and FitzGerald overseeing the development of players such as Isaac Smith, Orren Stephenson, Dean Towers, Stephen Clifton and Cameron Richardson into AFL draftees.
While preferring to always look forward than reflect on the past, FitzGerald said he’s proud of the results he’s produced through his ability to reinvent himself as a coach.
“The game challenges you to adapt and change, and if you don’t adapt and change, you’ll end up withering,” FitzGerald said.
“The game will change again next year from how it is now.
“Your principles and values must stay sound and you must always abide by those, but at the same time, your methodology must continue to change.”
In an era when the VFL is becoming increasingly professional through the involvement of AFL clubs in the competition, every method designed to equip part-time footballers to compete with elite-level players is crucial.
The methodology will be even more vital at North Ballarat once FitzGerald is gone, as the club’s partial alignment with North Melbourne ends ahead of the 2016 season.
“The difference in the competition now to when I started is considerable, and a lot of it’s because of the AFL involvement,” FitzGerald said.
“The AFL clubs joining our competition in 2000 demanded us (coaches) to become much more professional – to get the very best out of our boys knowing we’ve only got a minimum amount of time with them because they’re all doing something else other than playing football.”
But the challenges of coaching a modern-day VFL team hasn’t stopped ‘Fitzy’ from doing what he does best – getting the best out of footballers by truly connecting with them.
“The relationships that I’ve formed, I’ve cherished,” he said.
“It’s a relationship-based industry, coaching; football clubs are about relationships and connectivity.
“I enjoy that and I’ve developed some fantastic relationships and am connected all over Australia as a result of my coaching.
“I’d hope that my players would say I cared – that I cared about them as footballers and I cared about them as people.”
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Last Modified on 27/08/2015 14:57