The radio announcer of the Fitzy and Wippa show was in town to promote his new hosting gig in Foxtel’s new Australian Football League series The Recruit.
Fitzgerald was joined by WA top 50 ‘recruits’ Haden Martin, of Scarborough, Reece Maxwell, Ben Leech and Ryan Smith, who took part in several drills with the budding football players.
The former Sydney Swans and Adelaide Crows player said he was excited to be part of the show, which promises to make a suburban footballer into a superstar and earn an AFL contract.
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READ NOW‘Everyone knows footballers at clubs who have amazing talent but have never gone on with it for certain reasons,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘This show gives them the opportunity to do that so it’s really exciting.’
He was joined by Michael Voss ” former Brisbane Lions star, three-time AFL Premiership Captain and 1996 Brownlow medallist ” and former Hawthorn player Ben Dixon.
Together, they will put the 12 ‘recruits’ through their paces, both physically and mentally, in order to discover a player who is truly worthy of a place on an AFL team.
‘It’s a lot of hard work; it is really brutal,’ he said.
‘We put them onto an AFL program and they only have 10 weeks to show us they’re prepared to play AFL football.
‘A lot of them cannot do it and this is why this show is so good.
‘They live together and it’s really hard.
‘There are a lot of moments where they can’t go anymore, they want to go home. There’s a lot of tears, there’s a lot of laughter and a lot of joy, so it’s a really good program.’
The Recruit premieres tomorrow on Fox8 at 5.30pm.