Stories of Origin: Brad Fittler's Favourite Origin | The Fairytale Farewell of 2004
6/21/202627 min
No one has had a greater influence on New South Wales rugby league than Brad Fittler.
A Blues legend, Freddy played a record 31 State of Origin matches for NSW before later coaching his state on 18 occasions. But the Origin story closest to his heart came in 2004, when Phil Gould convinced him to return from representative retirement for one final campaign.
It wasn't all smooth sailing. The comeback didn't start as planned, but it ended with one of the most memorable fairytale finishes in Origin history.
In this episode of Stories of Origin, Brad Fittler relives the 2004 series, his final season in the Sky Blue jersey, the unforgettable decider, and the perfect send-off alongside Phil Gould.
A farewell that remains one of the great moments in Origin history.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsBrad Fittler· Guest0:00
[gentle music] Nine podcasts.
Ray Warren· Soundbite0:03
[crowd cheering] Six all. Welcome back to a night of history in the city of Melbourne, where the final chapter is about to be written. Fittler is out there for New South Wales. He's gone to 5-8. The crowd start to sing to the 26 Rugby League players. Chance for both teams. Look out as we- I do say when I go back and look at, say, even the small clips, I was only, only played for about 10 minutes I think in the first game in 1990.
Brad Fittler· Guest0:29
But the players I played against, you know, there's Mal, Wally, Gene Miles. Like, these are blokes that, you know, I watched as an eight-year-old kid. They dominated so much. And like, uh, you're just in awe of them. Like, they're like bigger than anyone. I walked into the team where the coach barely knew my name. And that's not nothing against Jack Gibson. Whether Jack was sort of playing with me a little bit, I'm sure he was. But I walked in there and didn't know players. You know, I, I pretty much went through that game barely talking to most players. Like, for the week I was with them, [laughs] I wouldn't have said two words to most of the players. Man, it was, it was amazing.
Ray Warren· Soundbite1:08
[crowd cheering] A young man out there, the youngest ever State of Origin player. What incredible pressure on him, Wayne Pearce.
Wayne Pearce· Soundbite1:16
Sure is. I'm sure he'll be looking to get straight into the action. That's the way to settle the nerves in, in a game such as this. He's in a key position. Wally Lewis is looking to control the game. He's gotta look to move up outside him and try and cut those passes off.
Ray Warren· Soundbite1:29
That pass to Lazarus