Premiership contender East Geelong has landed an impressive signing just five weeks out from the start of the GDFNL season with the addition of Jack Dickson from Leopold.
Eagles coach Ned Aulsebrook confirmed to K rock Football that Dickson will join the Eagles after missing all of the 2023 season with a scaphoid injury.
“Up until three or four weeks ago, he wasn’t sure he’d play again,” Aulsebrook said.
“Then he got some really good news from his surgeon that he’d turned a corner and he was healing really well.
“It’s my understanding the surgeon said, “You’ve done really well over the two months since I last saw you; you’re pretty much good to go”.
“Before that, Jack wasn’t sure he was going to play footy again.”
Aulsebrook revealed a link with East assistant coaches Seb Kent and Wayne Barrett played a role in luring Dickson to Richmond Crescent.
“It was the help of those two guys touching base with Jack and seeing how he was tracking with his recovery and things like that,” he said.
“He was unsure if he was going to return to footy or not.”
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Dickson played 36 senior games at Leopold, including the 2022 grand final loss to St Mary’s, after arriving at Memorial Park from Port Douglas, where he was a two-time premiership player in the AFL Cairns competition.
He was particularly impressive as the Lions made a daring run through that year’s final series from an elimination final.
Dickson played most of his football in defence for Leopold, which is where he will start for East.
“Having not played for the last 12 months, it probably makes sense, when he’s right to go, to slot him into where he feels really comfortable,” Aulsebrook said.
“Then we might experiment with a few things from there.”
Meanwhile, Aulsebrook says there’s been positive news for talented young forward Hugh Menzies after off-season shoulder surgery.
“He’s been given an idea on a potential return, and it is during the season at some stage,” Aulsebrook said.
“That’s good news for us because we weren’t sure if that was going to be the case.
“We’ll just keep ticking along with him.
“He’s taken on a development coaching role where he and Sam Lowe are working with some of the younger guys under the tutelage of Jeremy Power, and they’re absolutely thriving.”
X: @krockfootball
