BRAD Fittler, also known as "Freddy" Fittler captained both New South Wales and Australia, and in 2000 was awarded the Golden Boot. He retired as the most-capped New South Wales State of Origin player and third-most-capped Australian international player.

Fittler was born in Auburn, New South Wales and played junior rugby league for a number of clubs in the Parramatta JRL District including, Sadleir Bulldogs, Dayments, Ashcroft Stallions and Mt. Pritchard Mounties before moving to Cambridge Park in the Penrith JRL District. While attending Ashcroft High School, St Dominic's College, Fittler played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1988 and 1989.

Brad Fittler's first grade career started in 1989 at the Penrith Panthers while he was still attending McCarthy Catholic Senior High School in the western suburbs of Sydney. In 1991, he was part the Panthers' premiership winning-side. Fittler played in the centres as Penrith, under the coaching of Phil Gould won their first ever premiership. At the end of the season, he was selected for the Kangaroos five game tour of Papua New Guinea and made his test debut for Australia.

During the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand, he helped Australia retain The Ashes. Fittler, like the rest of the Penrith club, endured a tough 1992 season due to the death of his best mate, up-and-coming halfback/hooker Ben Alexander, the younger brother of Penrith captain Greg Alexander. Following Alexander's death in a car accident, Penrith's form dropped off in the second half of the season with the defending premiers finishing out of the finals in 9th place. As a result of Alexander's death, Fittler was left out of the second test team by his own request, but returned to the team in the deciding match in Brisbane which Australia won 16–10 to retain The Ashes.

At the end of the 1992 season, Fittler was selected in Australia's World Cup final team to play Great Britain at Wembley Stadium. In front of a then international record attendance of 73,631 the Australians retained the Rugby League World Cup with a hard-fought 10–6 win. During the first half, Fittler suffered a fractured cheekbone after being hit with an elbow from Lions hooker Martin Dermott who had gone into tackle the Australian Five-eighth with his elbow cocked. After being checked by team doctor Nathan Gibbs, Fittler continued playing.

The 1993 NSWRL season again saw the Panthers struggle, finishing 12th with a 7–15 record. Fittler played all three games for NSW in their 2–1 Origin series win over Queensland, before playing in all three mid-year tests against New Zealand with Australia winning the series 2–0 after the first test at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland ended in a 14-all draw thanks to a late field goal by stand in Australian captain Laurie Daley.

By 1995, Fittler was the world's highest-paid rugby league player, reportedly earning $1.05 million for the season. This was during the period of the Super League war when player payments rose to previously unheard of levels as both the Australian Rugby League (ARL), backed by media billionaire Kerry Packer, and the rebel Super League, backed by News Ltd, signed up players for double or triple their previous contracts. Fittler signed with the Australian Rugby League. With the ARL refusing to select SL aligned players for rep football, Fittler was given the captaincy of the NSW Origin team for the 1995 State of Origin series against Queensland. Coached by rookie coach Paul Vautin, and with a bunch of untried players thanks to not being able to call upon their usual Origin and test stars.

Fittler was given the Australian captaincy for the 3-test Trans-Tasman series against New Zealand making him Australia's youngest captain (23) since Reg Gasnier had first captained Australia in 1962. Fittler led the Kangaroos to a 3–0 sweep of the Kiwis, including winning man of the match in the 20–10 second test win at the Sydney Football Stadium. At the end of the 1995 ARL season, Fittler was an automatic choice to captain Australia in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup. Although the Kangaroos suffered a shock 20–16 loss to England in the opening game of the tournament at Wembley, and had a nervous win over New Zealand in extra-time in the Semi-final in Huddersfield after scores had been locked at 20-all at the end of regulation time, Fittler would lead Australia to its 8th World Cup success with an 18–8 win over England.

In 1996, he joined the Sydney City Roosters where he played nine seasons, captaining them to the 2002 NRL Grand Final victory over the NZ Warriors. In club competition, Fittler captained the Sydney Roosters to the 2000 NRL Grand Final, their first in twenty seasons, a Premiership in 2002 and successive grand final appearances in 2003 and 2004, before retiring at the end of 2004. Having won the 2002 NRL Premiership, the Roosters traveled to England to play the 2003 World Club Challenge against Super League champions, St Helens R.F.C. Fittler captained at five-eighth, scoring a try in Sydney's victory.

Fittler retired as the second most experienced first grader, behind Terry Lamb (349), having played 336 games. He was selected for Kangaroo tours in 1990, 1994, 1995 and 2001 and played in the World Cups of 1992, 1995 and 2000. Fittler was selected for the Australian team to compete in the end of season 1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament. In the final against New Zealand he captained the Kangaroos at lock forward in their 22–20 victory.

Fittler remains the youngest NSW State of Origin player (18 years 114 days) and was once the youngest Kangaroo representative (18 years 247 days) until Israel Folau made his debut in late 2007. As a tribute to Fittler's contribution to the NSW team, the Brad Fittler Medal is named in his honour, awarded to the best NSW player after each series victory by NSW.

On 24 November 2017, Fittler was announced as the new coach of the New South Wales rugby league team as the replacement for Laurie Daley and announced a significant change to the Game 1 roster compared to the previous series with the debut of 11 players for the match on 6 June 2018. He ultimately led the side to its first series win since 2014 with an 18–14 victory in the second game. He was again successful the following year as the Blues won consecutive series for the first time since 2004–05. In the 2021 State of Origin series, New South Wales bounced back under Fittler to win the series 2-1. New South Wales won the first game 50-6 followed by a 26-0 victory in Game 2.

In 2010, Fittler joined the Nine Network. In 2010 and 2011, he was a part of The NRL Footy Show, as a co-host. Also, since 2010, he has co-hosted The Sunday Footy Show program. In 2016, he has a role in The NRL Rookie. In February 2008, Fittler was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. In 2022, inducted into Sport Australia Hall of Fame.