Ryan Fitzgerald

Ryan James Fitzgerald (born 16 October 1976) is an Australian radio personality, television presenter, comedian and former Australian rules footballer. After being drafted from the South Adelaide Football Club, he made his Australian Football League debut for Sydney in 2000, before being traded to Adelaide, where he played eight games in 2002. Fitzgerald later appeared in Big Brother Australia 2004, beginning a wider media career in television on Channel 10's Saturday night AFL show Before The Game.

For the ice hockey player, see Ryan Fitzgerald (ice hockey).

Ryan Fitzgerald
Personal information
Full name Ryan James Fitzgerald
Nickname(s) Fitzy
Date of birth (1976-10-16) 16 October 1976
Place of birth Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s) South Adelaide (SANFL)
Draft #4, 1998 National Draft, Sydney
Height 199 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 96 kg (212 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1999-2001 Sydney 10 (15)
2002 Adelaide 08 0(8)
Total 18 (23)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2002.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Fitzgerald attended Wirreanda High School and played junior football for Port Noarlunga.[1]

AFL career: 2000–2002

A tall forward drafted by the Sydney Swans with the 4th overall selection in the 1998 AFL Draft from South Australian National Football League club, South Adelaide, Fitzgerald was unable to make his AFL debut until 2000, due to a shoulder injury. On debut, Fitzgerald kicked five goals and "looked set for a big career". He played nine more games for the rest of the season. At the start of 2001, Fitzgerald injured his knee, requiring a reconstruction that resulted in him missing the entire season. In 2002, he was traded to the Adelaide Crows, but only played eight games for the Crows before retiring from AFL football due to another ACL injury that required a reconstruction.[2]

Television and radio career
Fitzy and Wippa

Fitzgerald has appeared on The Project, Studio 10, Before The Game, Reality Check, All Star Family Feud, The Front Bar and Hughesy, We Have a Problem.

Fitzgerald was a contestant in Big Brother Australia 2004, and finished in fourth place at the conclusion of the show. After that he became co-host of the Adelaide Nova 91.9 Breakfast show and made occasional appearances on Before The Game (AFL). In 2005, he had a new role as a co-host on the new Friday night Big Brother Australia show Friday Night Live with fellow Big Brother 2004 contestant Bree Amer, which became a stand-alone show in its own right in 2006 as Friday Night Games.

This show then returned as Friday Night Download, featuring internet videos. It was cancelled early in its second season.

In October 2010, Fitzgerald announced that he would be leaving Nova 91.9 Breakfast to be a part of Nova's drive show Fitzy and Wippa,[3] which then became the Nova 96.9 Sydney breakfast show. Fitzy and Wippa were nominated for the 2011 Australian Commercial Radio Awards in the best on-air team, Metro FM category.[4]

Fitzgerald is also a regular player in the E. J. Whitten Legends Game.

On 14 October 2012 (episode seven), he made his acting debut on the Nine Network show House Husbands.

In 2016, Fitzgerald joined radio co-host Michael Wipfli to host the Nine Network show 20 to 1.[5]

Fitzgerald also appear on The Front Bar filling in the absence of either Mick Molloy or Sam Pang.

References
  1. "SFL to AFL". Southern Football League. Fox Sports Pulse. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  2. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2011). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (9th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-921496-12-7.
  3. "Another kind of Ryan to replace Ryan on Nova's national drive show". Radioinfo. 18 October 2010. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  4. "Finalists for 2011 Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs)" (PDF). Commercial Radio Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  5. Knox, David (16 March 2016). "Fitzy and Wippa to host 20 to 1". TV Tonight. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
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