Veteran Waratahs hooker Damien Fitzpatrick hooker announces retirement
After a career spanning more than a decade in sky blue, NSW Waratahs hooker, Damien Fitzpatrick has officially announced his retirement from professional rugby.
Contracted until the end of the original 2020 Super Rugby season, Fitzpatrick has decided that the time is right for him to step aside and begin the transition into life post rugby, calling time on a career that began in at the Waratahs in 2008.
NSWRU general manager of rugby, Tim Rapp said that Fitzpatrick’s selfless decision would allow the next generation of Waratahs to begin their transition into professional rugby.
“There’s no doubting Fitzy has the ability to compete at this level and continuing playing, we’ve seen the contribution he’s made over the last few seasons since returning from France,” Rapp said.
“The positive influence he’s had on his teammates and the way he’s led and encouraged our younger players has been invaluable to the collective growth of our group”
“He’s an impressive character who has overcome plenty of adversity to forge a fantastic career, and I know he excited to sink his teeth into life post rugby and develop his health business, which we’re already proud to have an association with here at NSW Rugby.”
Fitzpatrick will focus his immediate attention toward his own venture, Bondi Vite – a vitamin and wellness company – that already well-established in Australia and Asia, coming on board as an official supplier of NSW Rugby’s Super Rugby, Super W and Academy programs in early-2020.
The 73-cap Waratah said that while it was an emotional decision to bring an end to his career now, the timing was right and in the best interest of the Waratahs and the young hookers within the squad.
“Entering into this Super Rugby season, I was treating it as though there was a high possibility it would be my last. Ideally, it would have been nice to play out a regular season and sign off that way before finishing but that’s life.” Fitzpatrick said.
“With all that has transpired with this pandemic [COVID-19] and the nature of my contract period, I felt it was appropriate to call stumps on my playing time. I am excited about what lies ahead for me personally and I think the timing will benefit the team and organisation. It will give an opportunity to our younger hookers to show off their talents and allow the Waratahs to prepare for the future.
“Throughout the backend of my career, I have been balancing a number of things outside of rugby. This COVID period has provided me with a semi soft landing as to what life after rugby might look like. While obviously a little scared, I am also really excited to focus all my energy into what lies ahead.”
“There is no doubt I am going miss playing rugby, the constant competing, being around team mates, great staff, touring, the list is endless. I owe so much to this organisation and this sport.
“Having the opportunity to be a Waratah and represent my home state of New South Wales is one of the great privileges of my life. I have shared the field with some of the greatest Waratahs in history and learnt and forged friendships with so many great people along the way.
“I want to take the opportunity to thank the NSW Waratahs and our supporters wholeheartedly.”
Fitzpatrick will continue in his role as President of the Rugby Union Players Association (RUPA) until the end of July when he’ll officially step down from the role he began in early-2018.
NSW Waratahs head coach, Rob Penney was full of praise for the departing hooker.
“I’ve only been here for a short period, but Damien has been such an excellent contributor to our squad,” Penney said.
“He’s been an active part of our leadership group, imparting his experience and knowledge to our younger guys, and his ability to bring people together in a team environment is first class.”
– Waratahs Rugby
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments