Incumbent NSW Blues Origin coach Brad ‘Freddy’ Fittler has taken a philosophical view toward his coaching tenure with the squad following yet another series loss this year.
Fittler has been very candid about his future, believing the NSW Blues’ board needs to find the best man for the job.
But does the man himself believe he is the right man for the job?
Under fire NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler remains philosophical about his future as the mentor of the side
His side rallied around the changes and the coach to comfortably win Game 111 of Origin this year perhaps salvaging Fittler’s coaching tenure
‘You definitely take the losses harder as a coach,’ Fittler told Andrew Moore, Daryl Brohman and Paul Gallen’s show on 2GB.
‘I don’t drink much these days so even the wins are tame as well. But with the big wins, those moments you get on your own are the best moments.
‘Sitting there going through the day and the moment and what it means to the crowd, it’s a pretty privileged position we have so I don’t take that for granted.’
Fittler said he’s yet to decide if he wants to continue in the role after his contract expires.
‘At the end of the day, this is where people are missing the point,’ he said.
‘It is not about if I want to do it or not, it’s about what is best for the team. The NSW board needs to sit down and work out who is the best person for the job.
‘If they think it’s me they need to approach me and if they think it’s somebody else they need to approach them and do that. But when that happens, I need to think about if I’m the best person for the job.
‘The last couple of series have been pretty grueling and I think me being there adds pressure to the team as well. I also need to take that into consideration.
‘There are some decent decisions that need to be made. At the end of the day it is all about who is the best person for the job and they then have to go and find that person.’
Fittler was the subject of a lot of media discussion and attacks during the Origin series, mainly around team selections and of course the results.
Those stings and barbs hurt his family, with his wife coming out in support of her husband, but the always calm and rational Fittler met the concerns head on during the interview.
There may be harsh and critical talk about Fittler’s selection ideas, but the fans love the Blues coach
Fittler remains pensive about his future weighing up his role even if the NSW board chooses to retain him as state coach
‘The irony in all this is when I buy papers I use them in the garden under the mulch which actually saves me time,’ he said.
‘When the worms go through and poop over all the nonsense they write, it actually fertilizes my garden – so all the crap they write actually makes my garden look fantastic so it suits me.
‘Seriously though, I love the personal attacks on my decisions of which players should be in the side.
‘Like I’ve said before I feel absolutely privileged to be in the position to coach this team and when they play in front of 75,000 people at the ground, to be involved in that when they win is an incredible experience.
‘And I will never overlook that.
‘The negative talk doesn’t tire me out but it does tire players out. I see them come in and they look tired over all the talk and it’s something they all have to get used to because I can’t imagine the media is going to change.
‘So, they need to get some strategies around not reading all that stuff because a lot of it is nonsense.
‘Losing is the only thing that bothers me and it tires me so you keep trying to prepare and find a better strategy to prevent that.’
His wife, Marie, however is cut from a different cloth to her husband and she feels the barbs.
‘I’ve got my methods and strategies [to deal with stress] in place for this job,’ Fittler said. ‘I’ve worked it out but, for the first time, all this talk has affected my partner and my kids,’ he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘Marie takes it to heart: it can be anger; and it can be emotional.’
He then added in typical Fittler style with a smile: ‘She’s Greek – it keeps things interesting.
‘One thing is there is a lot of support from the public, the people you meet, and that is overwhelming. It outweighs all of the stuff they want to say and write. Whatever they were trying to do when it comes to me, it didn’t work.
‘I’m still wondering now that the series is done, if I’m the best person for the job.
‘Whether the media just attacks NSW or whether they are simply attacking me I don’t really know so I need to work out if I’m the best thing for the team as well.’
Billy Slater’s Maroons beat Fittler’s Blues in the series again this year and Freddy acknowledged that Slater deserved the nods of approval
Brohman, who played Origin for Queensland and who had sat relatively quiet, frankly said to Freddy, ‘I do love you Frederico, but I have to say this to you Freddy, I really do think Billy Slater out-coached you in the series’.
Fittler agreed.
‘That’s probably a fair comment and every time you win a series the coach definitely deserves a nod,’ he said.
‘Billy has done a great job. I know coaching against him your team needs to work hard because he’s a smart bloke and he takes no nonsense.
‘In the last game in Sydney I asked Ivan Cleary to join me in the box so I could ask him questions all through the match.
‘When you get to that level like Ivan, Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett, you’ve pretty much seen everything.
‘So Ivan had great ideas about what was about to happen particularly fatigue levels and most of it was correct.
“He was always calm and I knew the side needed to be calm and when opportunities come with him there we could bring it back to a sensible level so it was good to have him in there.’
Fittler’s contract as the Blues’ head coach is in place for another three months, but what will happen after that is anyone’s guess.
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