Fitzpatrick's connection with Taylor came about in his role as ambassador with Diabetes Victoria.

A couple of months post-podcast Taylor reached out to gauge Fitzpatrick's interest in the senior coaching role.

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"Coincidentally, it was around about the same time that I'd actually left the Western Bulldogs AFLW," he said.

"So it was all just circumstantial timing in how it all worked and obviously there's a few things we had to work through in terms of how would it look (with) me being based in Melbourne.

"In the end, the coaching side of things was something I was always keen on and for myself ... if I'm looking to potentially go on and coach with further aspirations I think coaching my own team would definitely be a good step for that and the opportunity presented by Lakers was a pretty good one that, in the end, I couldn't turn down."

His appointment follows multiple seasons with Werribee in the VFL as an assistant coach and then the Bulldogs AFLW side as an assistant.

As a 20-year-old full-time AFL footballer, diabetes was the furthest thing from Fitzpatrick's mind.

Two weeks before his 21st birthday he was shocked to be diagnosed with type one diabetes.

It meant for the remainder of his AFL career and in general life now, it is something he has to keep a close eye on.

"Obviously, I don't want to have it, but I consider myself lucky that I was playing footy when I was diagnosed," he said.

"The best way to manage your diabetes is to eat well keep a good routine, be strict, be disciplined, keep fit, keep active, exercise.

"Well, that's exactly what you do when you're an AFL player, you have a good routine, you're disciplined you eat well, you keep fit, you exercise.

"So in that aspect, I didn't have to change a lot."

What did change for Fitzpatrick was beginning to finger-prick himself and giving himself an injection every time he eats and before he goes to bed.

Another aspect that was of constant need of attention especially when he played in the AFL was his sugar levels.

These need to be kept at a particular level, usually around five to eight.

"The easiest and simplest example I can give is think of an old fashioned scale where you've got the two sides ... the amount of carbohydrates and sugar that you eat, you have to counteract that with the same amount of insulin, and that that's the best way to keep it level," he said.

Fitzpatrick said he used to play footy with his levels a bit higher than the usual, up towards the 10 to 13 area to be sure he wouldn't dip too low.

For those that do get too low, Fitzpatrick said they generally suffer dizziness and can become lightheaded.

"It's a bizarre experience. It's almost like an out of body experience in some ways," he said.

"Having been someone who retired with concussion, it's actually not a dissimilar feeling to being concussed.

"You just sort of feel removed from everything and out of it."

Fitzpatrick had to call an end to his 26-game, 27-goal career at the end of 2017 due to nine concussions suffered throughout his tenure at the top level.

He said once his concussion symptoms were impacting big life events, he knew it was time to give football away.

"I even had to miss a really good mate of mine who I was a groomsman for, I had to miss his engagement party because I just simply wasn't up to going," Fitzpatrick said.

"Every now and then as a footballer you have to miss certain things like that because you've got commitments, whether you're playing interstate or you've got games or whatever it is.

"But when you're starting to miss, I guess big life events of friends or of your own and that's purely down to a health issue, that's when it starts to become 'Oh, hang on, is this really worth it?'"

Fitzpatrick said symptoms affected everything from watching television which could cause a headache or blurred vision or something as simple as sending a text message.

"I didn't drive a car for six weeks afterwards, I was pretty much locked at home in a dark room and unable to do anything," he said about his last concussion in 2017.

Now returning to a country football and netball club, Fitzpatrick is an advocate for stricter protocols when managing concussions.

He said that in some ways, he likened the stigma surrounding concussions to that of mental health, with society trying to move away from the 'toughen up and get on with it' mantra.

"I think we've come such a long way with it ... but there's still so far to go. I think 90 per cent of people these days with concussion and with mental health, accept it, acknowledge it and treat it as seriously as it deserves to be treated," he said.

"I know that there are still a very small minority of people ... who say, whether it be concussion or with mental health, 'oh you're not that bad, just get on with it, harden up, all that kind of stuff, which, as we know the times of that have come and gone."

Fitzpatrick's time at Lake Wendouree will be his first time officially involved with a local club since 2007.

He said he is excited to be back involved at the local level.

"I couldn't be more impressed with the club itself and the feeling around it ... it seems like a genuinely good football club with good people," he said.

"At the end of the day, football should be something that's enjoyable, something fun and I love the fact that it seems to be a great club feel at the Lakers, it seems to be a quite close knit type feel."

When it comes to fun, Fitzpatrick has plenty when it comes to his famous long-range goal in the final round of 2016, which helped lift Hawthorn into the top four.

"I've been banned off Twitter for putting it on Twitter too many times," he laughed.

"The version I have on my phone has the Titanic music on it and I didn't realise this at the time but I kept tweeting it out and eventually I got banned for tweeting copyrighted content ..."

It wasn't always fun and games, however, with Fitzpatrick's tenure at Melbourne filled with some of the club's lowest moments.

He was taken with pick 50 in the 2009 draft, alongside premiership captain Max Gawn.

"I probably got to see a football club as bad as it possibly could be in terms of the club itself and the team probably," he said.

To see the club win the 2021 premiership and former teammates and friends like Max Gawn succeed was nice for Fitzpatrick.

"I was happy for Gawny and the other guys I played with, Tom McDonald, etc. It's a shame that Jonesy (Nathan Jones) didn't play but all of those guys, James Harmes.

"For me, it's about the people ... that's the best part of a footy club and this goes from anyone from long term sponsors to board members, supporters, to ex-players to anyone involved at the club ...

"They're not necessarily a player, they're not necessarily a coach ...

"There are still people and specific supporters I can think that in 2012 and 2013, when Melbourne was struggling to win a game, they're rocking up to training or they're at the ground two hours early ... it's windy, it's wet, it's cold, they travel.

"That's what a football club is for me and they're the people that you're happy for almost as much or more than the players ..."

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