Meet the man behind Wigan Warriors’ every step as meticulous pre-season schedule explained

Wigan Warriors enjoyed a smooth sailing pre-season camp in the Tenerife sun, and they had the quiet orchestration of one man to thank for that in particular: Rugby Operations Manager Tom Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick has been a part of the furniture at Robin Park Arena for more than a decade. First joining Wigan in 2012 as a Strength & Condition intern, he was working full-time for the Warriors by 2014, splitting his time between player performance and the club’s community outreach via their foundation.

After S&C became his full-time role, opportunities soon arose to expand his horizons in the world of player welfare, and his role has been reshaped over the years to suit his ambitions.

That in itself is a sign of how valuable he is to all inside the Cherry and Whites camp.

Want more Love Rugby League? Add us as a preferred source on Google and ensure you never miss our exclusives and breaking news!

‘Making sure the players and the staff have got what they need and they’re in the right place at the right time’

CEO Kris Radlinski vowed to allow Fitzpatrick flexibility in his role when an opportunity to join Glasgow Warriors came up which peaked his interest a few years back. Within 12 months, that promise had been fulfilled.

Speaking to LoveRugbyLeague during the Warriors’ pre-season media day, Fitzpatrick said: “It’s a wide-ranging role.

“The easiest way I could describe it is just making sure the players and the staff have got what they need and they’re in the right place at the right time.

“I’m just trying to support the programme, the physical side of it, the coaching side of it, and then trying to link the commercial team in with the players and the staff.

“It takes many forms, it’s hard to quantify what that might be.”

Thanks to his length of service, there are a number of players who Fitzpatrick has seen develop from boys to men. Warriors youth products Harry Smith and Ollie Partington are among those in that category.

Simultaneously though, the ever-changing nature of sport ensures he has been able to take on board fresh perspectives regularly, including those of Paul Deacon recently, who returned to the club as an assistant coach following his stint with Premiership Rugby outfit Sale Sharks.

‘You’re getting asked questions left, right and centre, and you need to know the answers’

Fitzpatrick’s role is one which flies under the radar, but its importance can not be underestimated, and that’s evidenced more than ever when it comes to the responsibilities he takes on board when planning Wigan’s pre-season trip.

Planning for the Warriors’ week in Tenerife, which took place in January, begun last summer. Fitzpatrick explained: “Generally, you would look at it in June or July of the year before.

“You speak to the venue when you’re there about next year, and things went really well again this year, so we let them know that we were happy and that we were looking at (returning) next year. But in June or July, we sit down properly.”

That initial plan involves Fitzpatrick, CEO Radlinski and head coach Matt Peet. Together, they compile a proposal to submit to the club’s board for approval.

Fitzpatrick continued: “We go through what we’re looking at, potential venues and put a proposal together about why we want to go or where we want to go.

“That goes through to the board, who then sign it off for us. We’re well supported by Mike Danson and the rest of the board, and it snowballs from there.”

Once the decision has been made on where the Warriors will head to, Fitzpatrick’s mission is to get there himself, as soon as possible. Every detail possible is analysed, assessed and fed back on.

He detailed: “You go and have a look at the venue, make sure it’s got everything you want. We look at the food menus, sit down with our Head of Performance Ian (Bentley) and Chris (McVey), our Head Chef.

“When we go to a camp, we pick up what we do in the UK and take it there, and almost intensify it. Everything has to be spot on.

“If you take the team somewhere and you’ve not been yourself first, it’s difficult to find your feet on the run because you’re getting asked questions left, right and centre, and you need to know the answers.

“When we first decided to go (to Top Tenerife), I went for a recce about two months beforehand. We’d had a lot of recommendations and we knew it was a top place, but it was just to tidy everything up and make sure we had the detail of it.”

While Fitzpatrick plans for pre-season, the campaign before is still in full flow. Wigan have reached the Super League Grand Final in each of the last three seasons, walking out at Old Trafford in mid-October.

But regardless of the result in that showpiece, draft schedules are pieced together for the pre-season trip in November, with final preparations carried out in December, and the trip itself is upon everyone involved come January.

Fitzpatrick continued: “You arrive with your best-laid plans, and then it’s about adapting as things hit the ground to make sure that things are working for the best.

“Things change on the move, you might do a session and then the coaches will look at the schedule for the next day and they’ll want to tweak it to get the best out of the camp. In that case, you have to adjust what you do.”

‘It needs to look like it’s calm and collected. But under the surface, you’re pedalling for life!’

As you’ve perhaps gathered by now, every small detail falls under Fitzpatrick’s remit. But so too do the basics. ‘Herding sheep‘ would be a very basic summarisation.

He outlined: “Passports is the one I always talk about to the squad. We collect the passports about seven-to-ten days before we fly.

“Most other things, you can fix. You can get more balls, boots, kit, whatever it is. But if you haven’t got a passport, you’re not going, and there’s not much I or anyone else can do about that!

“These are a good group of lads and they’re very self-sufficient, I’m not chasing after them as is the case with some groups.

“They almost need to not see what the staff do though, it needs to look like it’s calm and collected.

“But under the surface, you’re pedalling for life, really!”