Fitzpatrick played in 109 one day internationals, 13 test matches and 2 twenty-twenty matches, and was in town on Tuesday night to take the newly formed team through its paces.

The champion quick urged the club to stick by the team as it tries to find its feet in the Wangaratta District C-Grade competition.

“There’ll certainly be quite a few challenges for them early on,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Even some of the premier league teams in Melbourne find themselves having to do a bit of a ring around on Thursday night training to see who is available on the weekend.

“It’s ok for it to be like that in the beginning, you need pioneers who are willing to get programs like this up and running so that they can get bigger and better as time goes on.”

Establishing good training habits were at the top of Fitzpatrick’s priority list.

“When you’re working with players who have varying degrees of ability, it has to be about getting the balance right,” she said.

“The most important thing they can do is stick with it.  

“Hopefully I’ll have passed on a few things and they’ll be in a good position ahead of their first game.” 

Rutherglen will play its first ever match against Yarrawonga/Mulwala on Saturday October 17.