NSW coach Fittler to hit up Gus and Joey

BRAD Fittler was not confident he would get the NSW head coach job until he was told yesterday morning, but just hours later at his first press conference he was certain he would turn to Phil Gould and Andrew Johns to try to conquer Queensland.

Fittler ( pictured) met with Blues officials early yesterday to be told he was succeeding Laurie Daley as the NSW coach for the next two seasons.

Fittler said he had no idea he would get the job, and even contacted NSWRL boss Dave Trodden late on Thursday as the congratulatory messages bombarded his phone.

While Fittler will ill h have months to decide who will wear the NSW No. 7 jersey, who will be his assistants, and if and where the Blues will have training camps, the man who led NSW and featured in 31 Origins said Gould and Johns would be on speed dial.

“I’d be crazy not to talk to t them,’’ Fittler said.

“At what level I don’t know because I’ve just walked out of a meeting where I’ve been announced as coach.

“I’ve got a lot of meetings and chats over the next whatever to find out.

“The fact is both of them are two of my best mates. Even if I don’t pay them, it’s not like I’m not going to talk to them.

“They might even be like lawyers and start logging my calls and charge me $ 100 for every 15 minutes.

“They know State of Origin well. They do it well.

“A lot of Queenslanders have done it well, a lot of NSW players have done it better than us, and they’re two who have done it better than anybody, I would say.’’

Fittler’s ability to get the best out of Lebanon, and two points within a semi- final, did his Origin hopes no harm.

NSWRL chairman George Peponis said that while Fittler was a favourite for a long time, no deal had ever been put in place until this week.

Michael Maguire was seen as the other front- runner, but Peponis said talks with the former Souths coach never went beyond the “preliminary stages’’ because of Maguire’s desire to return to the weekly grind of NRL coaching.