Jess Fitzgerald

Growing up in Bundoora, Victoria,^[4] Fitzgerald played with the St Mary's Greensborough Kookaburras in the Yarra Junior Football League (YJFL) for four years from 2015 to 2018, amassing a total of 55 games with the team.^[5] She won the league best and fairest in the Under 15 Girls division in 2017.^[6] Fitzgerald attended school at Maribyrnong College, a specialist sports school.^[4] She began playing for the Northern Knights in 2018, as part of a development pathway from the YJFL to senior football. She played 11 games for the Knights in 2019, kicking 3 goals and averaging 14.1 disposals a game.^[7] Fitzgerald was awarded the best on ground award for the Grand Final,^[8][9][10] after she collected 16 disposals, four marks, five tackles and a behind. After the team's win, she stated "I'm not too much about the individual achievements, more about the team, I'll take it I guess, but really happy with the win."^[11] She also played for Vic Metro in the 2019 AFL Women's Under 18 Championships,^[12] playing two games, kicking a goal and averaging 14 disposals.^[7] She also played for the Northern Knights in 2020 but their season was cut short due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the short season, she played 3 games and kicked 2 goals, both coming in the same match against the Dandenong Stingrays, while also averaging 18.7 disposals.^[13] She was named the co-captain of the team alongside future No.1 pick Ellie McKenzie.^[14][15]

Fitzgerald debuted for the Western Bulldogs in the 1st round of the 2021 AFL Women's season, in the team's 9 point loss to St Kilda.^[16][17][18] On her debut, she collected 10 disposals, 1 mark and 3 tackles.^[19] The very next game in Round 2, in the team's thrilling one-goal win over Carlton, she was one of the Bulldogs' best on ground.^[20][21][22] In that game, she kicked her first goal, a running goal from 20 metres out, and also tallied up 15 disposals, 4 marks and a tackle.^[23] She won a rising star nomination for her performance in that game, alongside Melbourne player Tyla Hanks.^[24] Her very next game saw her pick up arguably the best goal of the Western Bulldogs' round 3 15 point win over Geelong, where she booted a 50m long bomb goal.^[25][26] A 2 goal performance in the Western Bulldogs' upset win over Melbourne saw her named as one of the team's best,^[27] also collecting 12 disposals, a game-high 7 tackles and a behind.^[28] After having a relatively quiet end to the season, Fitzgerald won team's the Best Young Player Award.^[29] It was revealed that Fitzgerald had signed a contract extension with the club on 16 June 2021, after playing every game possible for the club that season.^[30]

Fitzgerald supported the Collingwood Football Club in her youth.^[32] She cited her favourite AFL player to watch as Western Bulldogs forward Cody Weightman, and her favourite AFLW player to watch as either Kirsty Lamb or Jaimee Lambert.^[4]