![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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The 27-year-old suffered three head knocks within seconds – a head-clash with a teammate, a knee or boot to the head, and then hitting the ground in the middle of Lalor Reserve where a synthetic patch covers the cricket pitch which has a concrete base.<\/p>\n
He was rushed to hospital in a critical condition with severe bleeding on the brain, after being treated by both clubs\u2019 medical teams on the field including receiving CPR.<\/p>\n
That treatment gave him \u201can extra 24 hours for family and friends to say goodbye\u201d, before his condition deteriorated on Sunday, according to Epping president Luke De Vincentis.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou train to be able to be proficient to do first aid and CPR, but you never think you have to perform that in a local football game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were told by emergency services that had they not acted as quickly as they did, (parademics) would have probably been dealing with the circumstances yesterday, possibly on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Epping footballer Nathan Fitzgerald, who is receiving end-of-life care after an incident in a suburban footy game.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
Fitzgerald was also a teacher at Mernda Central College, with the school posting a tribute after his passing on Monday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cNathan was an exceptional young man who brought warmth, energy, kindness and genuine care to every part of his life,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a deeply valued member of our school community and had a profound impact on the students, staff and families who have had the privilege of knowing him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNathan represented the very best of education. He cared deeply about young people, built strong and meaningful relationships, and made those around him feel seen, supported and valued.\u201d<\/p>\n
Epping Football Club posted: \u201cRest in Peace & Love, Fitzy. 34 \u2013 Forever Fitzy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incident has sparked calls for further investment into local grounds shared by footy and cricket.<\/p>\n
Pitches are typically covered by synthetic grass and sand, and Lalor Reserve is one of many venues where centre ball-ups are moved as far away from the pitch as possible, to try and avoid situations like this one.<\/p>\n
The Lalor Reserve synthetic cricket pitch.Source: Leader<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has always been some risk and concerns involved around the cricket pitches on footy ovals,\u201d De Vincentis told ABC radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cricket pitch was covered, but it is still substantially harder than other parts of the oval.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we\u2019re just local amateur sports, we have to be able to use these facilities for multiple purposes, but the risk does come that there is quite a hard strip of surface in the middle of a ground where there is a high-velocity, high-contact sport played on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do hope this is explored and the way cricket pitches are covered moving forward is something that can be looked at, because it is a significant risk, and I think the weekend has proved what a dire outcome can be from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the third-quarter incident, the game was abandoned. Epping\u2019s senior game was also cancelled.<\/p>\n
Victoria Police said there was \u201cno evidence of criminality during the incident\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathan Fitzgerald, the suburban footy player involved in a tragic head knock accident in a match this past…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":782912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-782911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=782911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=782911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=782911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}