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21 JULY, 2026
Bar owner fears reputational hit By Laura Michell
O “Number 34 - forever Fitzy.” Epping footballer Nathan Fitzgerald was honoured by the local community and those far and wide after his tragic death following a football match on 4 July. Playing in the reserves, Fitzgerald is believed to have copped three head knocks in an on-field incident.
Taken to hospital, he died on 6 July surrounded by family. There was an outpouring of emotion for Fitzgerald, including a public memorial service on 11 July. For more, turn to page 2.
Nathan Fitzgerald’s grief sticken brother Matthew, mother Barbara, and father Gary (right) walk onto the Epping Football Ground as the club paid tribute to the fallen footballer. (Ljubica Vrankovic) 564735_11
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The owner of a Tullamarine pool hall and bar fears his business has taken a reputational hit after it was incorrectly named as the target of a suspected firebombing. A fire broke out at a furniture warehouse next door to Pockets on Mickleham Road about 3.45am on Thursday 16 July. The fire has been deemed suspicious, with CCTV footage showing a vehicle ramming the front door of the furniture warehouse before a fire broke out. Fire Rescue Victoria said firefighters arrived on the scene to find the factory and a car alight. It said crews entered the building from the rear of the premises and conducted an aggressive internal attack on the fire, taking about 30 mins to control the blaze. Pockets owner Arthur Titus said his business had wrongly been named as the intended target because of the spate of arson attacks on hospitality premises across Melbourne. He said that in the hours following the fire, his business lost bookings for five functions over the next couple of weeks, which would have brought in about 450 guests. “It hurts our business in so many ways. In our business, our reputation is everything,” Mr Titus said. “You must be able to provide a safe space for people to be entertained. “Unfortunately it puts a different outlook on who we are as a business and owners and it definitely deters people from coming past. “Because of the bar wars, we got dragged into it. “We stick to ourselves, we are family people.” Mr Titus said he was alerted to the fire by his security monitoring company, which called to inform him the bar’s smoke alarm was going off. He initially feared his property was on fire and immediately began to question why anyone would target Pockets. “I thought, why is this happening? There has been no trouble, we haven’t stepped on anyone’s toes,” he said. Mr Titus quickly jumped in his car and drove to the venue, telling Star Weekly he felt relief when he realised it was the warehouse next door that was on fire. Despite the concerns for his business’ reputation, Mr Titus said he was grateful to the members of the local community who rallied around the bar, which was able to resume trading on Thursday night. “I just asked out community to come out for us and it did,”he said.
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