Zero Digital Media would like to welcome former Hawthorn and Melbourne footballer Jack Fitzpatrick to our editorial team.

Having worked with some of the most prominent media outlets in the country, Jack adds a great degree of experience, skill and professionalism to our group of emerging journalists.

Jack played 26 games in the AFL from 2011 - six years with the Demons and two seasons with the Hawks - before announcing his retirement due to concussion in 2017.

Growing up in Werribee and playing his junior footy with Wyndhamvale, Jack joined the Western Jets in the TAC Cup before being drafted to the Demons with pick #50 in the 2009 National Draft.

Plying his trade with the Casey Scorpions in the VFL, he was eventually awarded with an AFL debut in Melbourne's final game of the 2011 season against Port Adelaide.

Jack played a total of 22 games up forward for the Demons, before being traded to reigning premiers Hawthorn at the end of the 2015 season.

After biding his time in their reserves, he made his club debut in the Hawks' last home and away game against Collingwood, where he booted a memorable match-winning goal to secure a second-chance final for Alastair Clarkson's side.

He featured in both of the Hawks' finals matches that post-season, enduring losses to Geelong and the Bulldogs to end Hawthorn's hopes of a fourth-straight flag.

The following year, Jack suffered the ninth concussion of his career, with the now 30-year-old subsequently forced to retire from the game.

He has since looked toward coaching and the media post-career, having worked with SEN, Channel 7, Triple M andย ABC Radio,ย and is also an ambassador for Diabetes Victoria.

Recently appointed senior coach of Lake Wendouree Football Club, Jack will bring his prior experiences as an assistant coach with the Western Bulldogs AFLW side and Werribee to the Ballarat-based club for the next two years.

Now joining theย Zero Digital Media team as a Senior Digital Reporter, we've put some questions to 'Fitzy'ย to further introduce him to you, our readers.

Favourite moment of your career?ย 

Jack Fitzpatrick: First game, first goal, first win andย thatย goal are hard to go past. But for me, the three-week period between kicking the goal against the Pies and playing finals was unreal.

I'd spent six seasons at the Dees, had a fair few setbacks, was in and out of the team and we'd never looked like playing finals. All of a sudden, I'm lining up in a qualifying final on a Friday night - the Hawks were shooting for a four-peat (which I genuinely believe we would've won if Isaac Smith could kick straight), and my first final was Hawthorn vs. Geelong. That was theย rivalry of the past 10 years. The games were unreal and every footy fan would plan around making sure they saw these games. The game was typically tight and we were unlucky to lose.

It's funny that throughout that season, we won an absurd amount of games by a narrow margin - and were probably lucky to win them all. But that night, it felt we were about a four-goal better team than the Cats, yet we got rolled. As I said, I genuinely think we would've won the flag if Izzy kicked that goal ... We would've played Sydney at the G in a prelim which I think we would've won, then with that team - Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis, Burgoyne, Gibson, Birchall etc. - I don't think it would've mattered who we played in the Grand Final.

I just don't think that group would've lost. I do tell Isaac all the time he owes me a premiership, but I keep it quiet that I kicked 0.2 from three shots at goal that night myself!

We then had our second chance the next week and lost to the Doggies on the Friday night. They were obviously on a roll and went on to win the lot. That was tough to take in the sense that I genuinely believe if we played that game 10 times, we probably win eight of them, but that's not how footy works. And to be fair, they probably were like that throughout the whole finals series - West Coast in Perth, us, GWS in Sydney and Sydney in the Grand Final. They probably only win two or three out of 10 of those games, but they won the ones that matter.

Embed from Getty Images

Don't get me wrong, they smashed us that night and deserved to win. So I don't want to take anything away from them at all. They were clearly the better team that night. Anyway, that finals buzz was unreal. Two Friday night games at the G, massive crowds - the thrill was unreal and so much fun. Apologies to my future wife and kids (if they exist), but I'm not sure that feeling will ever be topped. It was honestly incredible - and we lost! I can't imagine how good it would be to win!

Least favourite moment during your career?ย 

JF: I think it's well-publicised that I was at Melbourne for some pretty dark days. Arguably as dark as any club has had in the history of the sport. I won't go into specifics but a lot of things could've been done differently.

The hard part was not just enduring it yourself, but also seeing people you care about go through some pretty hard stuff - and it's so much more than impacting their footy. Seeing the flow-on effect from footy, to how it impacted them mentally and their lives in general, sucked.

Funnily though, in some ways, I wouldn't change it for the world. You got to build some pretty tight bonds and friendships, and it's now fun to catch up with the boys over a beer and talk about it. As a coach now and as someone who is passionate about high performance, both in sport and in life, I got to see a club/culture that was pretty ordinary at times, then I go to arguably the greatest team of all time - with arguably the greatest leaders of all time, with arguably the greatest coach of all time.

You learn a lot and I think it helps you get a broader perspective on things. As I said, there were some seriously hard times and, to be frank, they sucked. But you come out the other side with some pretty good life experience - even if it's of what not to do.

Toughest player you played against?

JF: I was lucky enough to play on/against some seriously good footballers but, without doubt, the biggest schooling I got was by Dustin Fletcher in 2010.

It was my first season after being drafted in 2009 and I played the first NAB Cup game against Freo. I got subbed out at halftime but again played the next week in a NAB Challenge game against Essendon at Princes Park - this was the old 'knockout' NAB Cup where the challenge games weren't even televised.

Anyway, I was new to the caper and playing against a bloke I always looked up to - not only because he was a star defender, but because I identified with the tall and lanky body type. I just didn't get near the football. At one point I think he even felt sorry for me - he stood on my toe and actually apologised to me.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 30: Dustin Fletcher of the Bombers is chaired off the ground in his 400th game during the round nine AFL match between the Richmond Tigers and the Essendon Bombers at Melbourne Cricket Ground on May 30, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

I was possessionless - donuts - with about five mins to go and was resigned to having my first ever game without touching the footy. The call from the runner comes out to come off, and I couldn't even put it off as I was our deepest forward and the ball was in our back pocket. I start jogging to the bench on the other side of the ground and Fletcher stays where he is, guarding the dangerous space. By some miracle, as I'm running off Melbourne happen to win the ball from the congestion and switch it. We rebound the footy and it looks like I've made the greatest lead of all time, when in reality I was just trudging to the bench. Luckily, the kick hit me about five metres from the boundary and I dished off a handball. I then walked off the ground, very happy to have got my first touch with mere minutes remaining.

How many times have you watched THAT goal?

JF: A bit like the scoreboard in Space Jam when it says 'kinda one-sided isn't it?'. I think the fact my original Twitter account was suspended because I tweeted my highlights too much says a lot. Admittedly, it's because it had the Titanic music so I was done for tweeting copyrighted content too much. But yes, I've essentially joined Donald Trump in the banned list on Twitter - what illustrious company!

In all seriousness though, that goal was the culmination of what was a pretty big year for me. I got a second chance at things after it didn't quite work out at the Dees, and it's with the team who have just won three in a row. There was a lot of talk about me not being good enough and I kind of relished that to be honest, I love proving people wrong. I had a pretty good start, a really good pre-season, and we did this exercise just before the practice matches began where the playing group breaks up into smaller groups and picks their team for Round 1.

It's about providing feedback of where players are at and how they've trained. Keep in mind, this is a team who had just won three in a row, and I was in over half of the teams based on what they'd seen. Unfortunately, things didn't quite pan out as planned. I hyperextended my knee in a pre-season game, which meant I missed a number of weeks.

At the same time my Pop was sick, so I was spending a lot of time visiting him in hospital. I was as close to him as I am my parents - and that's no knock on them, just shows how close I was with him Granmum (who is still with us!).

Anyway, I'd spent time injured and a lot of time in hospital, then as I was returning to play I copped a concussion in a VFL game. It was my seventh overall and I missed a lot of footy, having some issues getting back to training let alone playing.

It was incredibly frustrating from a football point-of-view - Roughy missed that year with health issues, and Ryan Schoenmakers was out injured too. Tim O'Brien and James Sicily were quite young, so all I had to do to play every week was literally not be injured!

Anyway, I get back to playing towards the end of the year and I'm playing OK in the VFL without smashing the lights out. It sort of just looks like the opportunity started well but unfortunately, it wasn't to be. However, a chance comes my way to play in the last game of the season, a pretty important game with the top four on the line.

History would show I took that chance by kicking a pretty important goal - a bloody good one at that. So for me, yes I kicked a goal, a ripper, at a key time, in my first game for the club, from relative obscurity, but it wasn't just that - it was the 12-month build-up, all culminating in that moment. Even the fact my last AFL game for Melbourne was against the same team and, at the same end, I did the 'tunnel ball' - it was a kind of poetic and full-circle moment for me in many ways.

What motivated you to move into coaching?ย 

JF: I've always been a football nerd - I grew up loving the game, always played SuperCoach throughout my career and watched as many games as I could.

That said, I never thought coaching would be for me. However, when you get forced into retirement through concussion, I guess you miss the mateship that comes with being in a footy club and coaching can definitely fill that void.

Embed from Getty Images

I was lucky that Werribee approached me to work with them in the VFL once I announced my retirement and it started from there. It was an interesting project because 2018 was their first year as a stand-alone club, having previously been aligned to North Melbourne.

I started doing some specialist coaching with the talls and was also the match-day runner, before becoming the midfield coach the next year - I shared that role with Michael Barlow, who was a player/assistant coach, and we were working underneath Mark 'Choco' Williams.

I took up an opportunity with the Bulldogs AFLW after that and was fortunate to spend two seasons coaching under St Kilda and AFL legend, Nathan Burke. I loved my time with the Doggies and learnt a hell of a lot, and am now taking on my first senior coaching role with Lake Wendouree in the Ballarat FNL.

What do you enjoy about the senior role?

There are probably two elements to it for me. The first is the coaching specific element - helping players become better footballers/athletes. Anything from technical aspects to running patterns/football IQ, I enjoy it all.

The other is culture and leadership, and simply making the club a place where people can flourish and actually enjoy being at. Having had five coaches in six years at Melbourne, and obviously 'Clarko' at the Hawks, I guess you pick up on what does and doesn't work in all aspects. I feel I can take parts from each coach - and a fair bit of 'what not to do' as well.

If I combine all that well enough, I like to think I have a fair bit to offer. And I guess the mentoring, or development, or whatever you want to call it that you get from coaching, also fits in with the work I do as an Ambassador at Diabetes Victoria. In both aspects I guess I feel I can help other people and enjoy doing so

If you could have a former teammate join you as an assistant coach, who would it be?ย 

JF: Has to be Sam Mitchell. I'm not sure he'd appreciate the step back, but he has the best football brain I've ever come across - by a long way.

One out of left-field and a bit more realistic would be Colin Garland. I hate to pump up his tyres but 'Garlo' saw the game incredibly well. Not only that but he just 'got it', in terms of valuing players as people and not just treating them as commodities. He'd make an excellent coach - he ticks both the people management and understanding of the game boxes.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 27: Colin Garland of the Demons kicks the ball during a Melbourne Demons AFL training session at Goschs Paddock on April 27, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Dream job?

JF: I was probably fortunate that I got to spend eight years doing it - I dreamt of playing AFL for as long as I can remember. In some ways you could argue it's unfortunate though - I got drafted straight from high school and now have to find something I'm just as passionate about.

While it's not realistic, I wouldn't mind taking over from Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager. A bit more achievable: I enjoy the coaching I've done so could look to progress with that, while I also enjoy working in the media.

Worst habit?

JF: Can sometimes use a paragraph when a sentence will do - moreso in a conversation/text than my actual writing. For me, I just like to make sure things are clear and everyone is on the same page - but I do acknowledge I can go a bit overboard.

Signature dish?

JF: Toast - cooking is not a strong suit! Although, in all seriousness, I do make a nice chicken salad with a homemade dressing!

Be sure to stay tuned to Jack's content with Zero Digital Media across the course of 2022.ย