Dickson's New Deal

[Eastdog]

http://m.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/2014-05-08/dicksons-new-deal

Dickson's new deal
westernbulldogs.com.au
8 May 2014 3:00 PM

Forward Tory Dickson is the latest Bulldog to extend his contract with the Club, penning a new two-year deal on Thursday.

The dangerous goal sneak joins talented youngsters Jack Macrae, Jake Stringer and Lachy Hunter in showing faith in the Bulldogs' direction under coach Brendan McCartney in the past few months.

Recruited as a mature aged player from the Bendigo Bombers with pick 57 in the 2011 NAB AFL Draft, Dickson says he couldn't be happier remaining at Victoria University Whitten Oval.

"It's been great to agree to terms, I'm really excited, I think we're going places and its really good to put pen to paper," Dickson said.

"It's my third year, I feel I'm growing year by year but I've still got a lot to learn."

But reflecting on his efforts in the Bulldogs' opening round thrashing at the hands of the Eagles, he has no doubts why he spent the next month in the VFL.

"I played round one, and there was a couple of soft efforts, and I wasn't proud of them," he said.

"If you're not playing the right way, you're going to find yourself out of the team."

A chat with McCartney and forwards coach Shannon Grant quickly reminded the 26-year-old what is expected of him.

"It was to do with form, it was to do with effort and work rate," Dickson said.

"I guess I just went back (to the VFL) and worked on a few little things I needed to work on and then found my way back in to the team."

It's not the first time the former Essendon assistant coaches have had an influence on Dickson's rise from suburban footballer to a Bulldog regular.

"I guess I have them (McCartney and Grant) to thank really, (after) going back and giving VFL another go playing with the Bendigo Bombers," he said.

"You never know, maybe if those guys weren't there I might not have got that opportunity, so I'm very grateful to them and the Western Bulldogs."

[lemmon]

Surprised by the timing, I'd have thought there were other options and we should have let the year play out first

[bulldogtragic]

Surprised. Grant struggled to get 2. Good luck to him though.

[LostDoggy]

I'm happy with this. Mature-aged, but only played 33 games. 48 goals for an average of 1.5 per game. Take Gia out of the equation and really only Dahlhaus comes close in a forwardline that hasn't kicked goals since he's been there.

Just needs to work on consistency of effort for each game, as his goal return is skewed due to multiples in very third game or so.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

He's a talented player but desperately needs to find more consistency.

Surprised by the extension at this point of the season, but not unhappy - think he can add a fair bit.

[Remi Moses]

Agree with others.
Dickson needs to find some consistency , and hopefully comes with more games.

[Mantis]

Not sure this is a great decision this early in the season.. He is one player who I think will struggle to get a game as (if) we improve.

[soupman]

Not sure this is a great decision this early in the season.. He is one player who I think will struggle to get a game as (if) we improve.

I agree. I think as a pure forward he might be pushed out by guys like Hunter who have shown that they can push up the ground as well as kick goals.

[ratsmac]

Congrats Tory.
He is worth another 2 years. I think he has done really well since joining us, especially with the type of delivery coming into the forward line. It would be nice if he knew how to play other positions on the ground though.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I think Dickson is a different type of forward to Hunter.

Whilst Hunter is a pretty good crumbing player, who is very creative and agile in congestion (similar to Dahl) which allows him to push further up the field, Dickson is more of a traditional stay at home lead/mark medium forward. He isn't the type to consistently rack up 18+ disposals per game, nor does he need to be, but he has to find a way to stay involved (eg. constant movement to open up space behind him, as well as defensive pressure).

The challenge for Dickson is to narrow the gap between his best and worst. He is extremely good in one on one contests, but he goes missing too often. He is capable of kicking 4-6 goals in a game, the only other two players on our list capable of this are Dahlhaus and Crameri.

[1eyedog]

I think Dickson is a different type of forward to Hunter.

Whilst Hunter is a pretty good crumbing player, who is very creative and agile in congestion (similar to Dahl) which allows him to push further up the field, Dickson is more of a traditional stay at home lead/mark medium forward. He isn't the type to consistently rack up 18+ disposals per game, nor does he need to be, but he has to find a way to stay involved (eg. constant movement to open up space behind him, as well as defensive pressure).

The challenge for Dickson is to narrow the gap between his best and worst. He is extremely good in one on one contests, but he goes missing too often. He is capable of kicking 4-6 goals in a game, the only other two players on our list capable of this are Dahlhaus and Crameri.

And Grant. You're right Hunter is not competition for him but a forward line of Stringer, Crameri, Grant, Jones, Dahlhaus, Hunter (who for mine are all better players and who I see being more long-term) really limits his opportunities in the future.

I hope he can make a contribution over the next two seasons.

[Maddog37]

Will effectively be a Gia replacement. I would expect him to divide opinion just as much too.

[chef]

Good stuff.

[Greystache]

Good news. We have so few players who can impact the scoreboard and Dickson is one who can.

[chef]

Yep, he looks a natural forward.

[Twodogs]

Will effectively be a Gia replacement. I would expect him to divide opinion just as much too.


Good observation.

[G-Mo77]

Will effectively be a Gia replacement. I would expect him to divide opinion just as much too.

Yep, that's the way I see it as well.

[Go_Dogs]

Will effectively be a Gia replacement. I would expect him to divide opinion just as much too.

Agree with that. No issue with the extension for mine.

[GVGjr]

He was coming out of contract so you are caught between making an offer now or potentially matching offers from other clubs later in the season.

I'm guessing here but it sounds like he understands where he is as a footballer and I'd say he was reasonable with the money he was seeking. With those two issues out of the way, signing him early in the season seems to me to be the prudent thing to do.

[ReLoad]

Depth player at best, poor decision for a 2 year deal, we need to find someone and something different, and the only way we will do that is by getting kids into the squad. Not a wise decision IMHO.

[chef]

Depth player at best, poor decision for a 2 year deal, we need to find someone and something different, and the only way we will do that is by getting kids into the squad. Not a wise decision IMHO.

He's a polarising player isn't he, I would easily have in our best 22 and see him having a pretty good career at the Dogs.

[azabob]

He's a polarising player isn't he, I would easily have in our best 22 and see him having a pretty good career at the Dogs.

He certainly is. I agree with you, easily in our best 22 and I think he will only get better as we get better.

[Throughandthrough]

I hope we didn't pay overs. Dickson's getting the best out of what he has, which isn't a lot.

[ReLoad]

He's a polarising player isn't he, I would easily have in our best 22 and see him having a pretty good career at the Dogs.

Polarising indeed, I think its a pretty sad indictment of our list if he is best 22.

For mine he is too one paced, fades in and out of games and when he is not chasing and tackling (which happens more often than not) looks amazingly lazy.

Great shot for goal though.

[Maddog37]

Polarising indeed, I think its a pretty sad indictment of our list if he is best 22.

For mine he is too one paced, fades in and out of games and when he is not chasing and tackling (which happens more often than not) looks amazingly lazy.

Great shot for goal though.

As I said, just like Gia.

[boydogs]

As I said, just like Gia.

Or Paul Hudson

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Good news. We have so few players who can impact the scoreboard and Dickson is one who can.

Dickson's lack of pace remains a problem. He was poor against Essendon and whilst playing well at times is inconsistent.
There was little need to gift him a further two year contract.
Gia and Dickson and Jones on the same forward makes it slow.

[Bulldog4life]

I am happy with the decision of the Club. Can be a damaging player for us when we are on song.

[LostDoggy]

Dickson plays really well one week or two, then appears to come up sore or jaded the next. I don't know if he is up to the rigours of AFL footy week in and week out, or if he has other issues, but if he is to be of real value to the club there has to be a much narrower gap between his best and his worst.

[Greystache]

Dickson's lack of pace remains a problem. He was poor against Essendon and whilst playing well at times is inconsistent.
There was little need to gift him a further two year contract.
Gia and Dickson and Jones on the same forward makes it slow.

I don't see it as a major issue as he doesn't have too much trouble getting clear on the lead inside 50m. With better delivery, better players around him, and the overall improvement of the team, along with more experience he should be able to kick 40-50 goals a season.

Gia will be gone at season's end at the latest, and Jones is actually the second quickest player on our list, he just doesn't lead well. I don't see either being an issue for Dickson next year or the year after (when this contract applies).

[Ozza]

I'm a Dickson fan. 1.5 goals per game over the first 33 games of his career. Genuine goal sense - which we don't have in droves.
Quite probably will routinely bear the brunt of supporter frustration when we lose games- but that's the nature of playing a forward pocket. Very hard position to play, in that you are always reliant to some extent on the opportunities that present themselves (ie. the quality of inside 50s, whether opposition defenders are being allowed to mark the ball, whether the taller forwards are drawing the ball to them.

[Mantis]

He was coming out of contract so you are caught between making an offer now or potentially matching offers from other clubs later in the season.



Which others clubs would be interested?

[soupman]

Which others clubs would be interested?

Port Melbourne? ;)

I'm ok with his re-signing. I'm not a big fan but he was always going to get at least next year and the McCartney tenure has shown that when a player does right by the club (professional attitude, good around the club, ie. Greenwood, Howard etc.) the coaches are more than happy to give them every opportunity to make it. For this reason I expect Pearce to be given another year.

Certainly I think we are going to continue our trend of cutting players one year too late (Veszpremi, Howard, maybe Gia) instead of one year too early.

[mighty_west]

Which others clubs would be interested?

At a glance I reckon The Saints, Carlton, Essendon or even North could use a goal kicking forward his size, he'd have to be a better option than Nahahahas.

[The Underdog]

Depth player at best, poor decision for a 2 year deal, we need to find someone and something different, and the only way we will do that is by getting kids into the squad. Not a wise decision IMHO.

Yeah but teams need depth. At worst he's cheap depth who can fill a role in the forward line if someone goes down.
Gia plays the same role and will retire after this year. There are worse players / players closer to retirement who we can move on to get more kids into the squad, plus all of our rookie list needs to be either upgraded or delisted after this year.

[bornadog]

If he kicks two goals a week (44 to 50 per year) and applies forward pressure the he earns his keep.

[1eyedog]

At a glance I reckon The Saints, Carlton, Essendon or even North could use a goal kicking forward his size, he'd have to be a better option than Nahahahas.

But Aaron Edwards couldn't get a game at North and that's the reason the Bombers got in Chappy. Brisbane maybe but I'm not sure anyone else would pick him up. He's a depth player and for mine if people are comparing him to Gia then we have a problem because the game has seriously gone past Gia. Regarding comments about him needing other players to play well around him - really? Aren't most small-medium forwards better when others are playing well? I don't really get this comment...

When he goes missing (which is not uncommon and can last for an entire game) he becomes a liability.

[Remi Moses]

As some have said it's bridging the gap between his best and worst, and I think he did deserve a new contract.
Dickson's showed signs of Beeing a good footballer, unlike some on the list.
If he doesn't become consistent in the next two years he'll be gone.
Agree also it's a difficult role in this era in particular.

[jeemak]

Aside from consistent effort defensively and working to create space, he's only going to be as good as our team is at getting the ball forward to giving him opportunities.

Right now, our list has two players that have managed to kick six goal games, and not many others that have managed to return four goals in a game. Scoring is not an issue for him.

He has had weeks where his work rate has made him look second rate in terms of locking the ball in to our forward line, and contributed to allowing teams to work the ball out of our scoring zone easily, which in turn makes the job of our midfielders and half backs in returning the ball (to make him look OK) more difficult.

If he learns to apply effort consistently he'll be a very consistent player. I think we did the right thing signing him on for two more years. We are losing Gia, and right now we don't have the depth to cover his output even if it is inconsistent, so taking a punt on him improving isn't a massive issue for me.

[LostDoggy]

Just because he's on the list doesn't mean he has to play seniors. I think he's a good player to have as insurance at worst, and a handy little goal sneak at best. As others have said, he wouldn't have been given much money-wise, knows where he's at and I bet (aka wild guess) he didn't even bargain with them, just signed the paper put in front of him.

Good decision.

[Go_Dogs]

Dickson is a very interesting player, but with Higgins playing a different role, Gia to retire, Dahl and Hunter different style players, Dickson is really our only small/medium marking player.

He has demonstrated in his short career he can kick goals, and while he still has some improvements to make to his game and find ways to stay more consistently involved throughout a match, he's going to be an important player for us over the next few years.

Whether he stays as a consistent best 22 player remains to be seen, but as GVGjr mentioned, given it's unlikely we needed to throw huge amounts of money at him, it seems a reasonable decision to sign him up now.

[GVGjr]

When I think of how we gave James Mulligan an extended deal with no actual runs on the board but basically a whisper that GC might be interested and then how we patiently waited on signing Callan Ward only to have him sign for another club I don't think a 2 year deal early in the season with Dickson compromises our list management decisions going forward.

[Rocco Jones]

When I think of how we gave James Mulligan an extended deal with no actual runs on the board but basically a whisper that GC might be interested and then how we patiently waited on signing Callan Ward only to have him sign for another club I don't think a 2 year deal early in the season with Dickson compromises our list management decisions going forward.

Yep.

I don't get the need for 2 years but definitely deserves a spot on next year's list more than Howard, Pearce and even Tutt deserved a spot this year.

[bulldogtragic]

Looking today at Smith, Stevens, Bonts, Grant and Hrovat. If they're all fit and in form, I'm not sure how Dickson forces his way in consistently.

[chef]

I'd have Dickson in front of all of them as a forward and in our forward line.

Maybe Grant, but that's touch and go ATM. The others are all mids who can go forward, not natural forwards which I think Dickson is.

[bornadog]

I'd have Dickson in front of all of them as a forward and in our forward line.

Maybe Grant, but that's touch and go ATM. The others are all mids who can go forward, not natural forwards which I think Dickson is.

I don't like Dickson playing outside the forward 50, looks completely lost. Looks dangerous when around the goals when ball comes to ground.

[jeemak]

Yep.

I don't get the need for 2 years but definitely deserves a spot on next year's list more than Howard, Pearce and even Tutt deserved a spot this year.

Has he been that bad has he? I don't watch enough seconds but unless we're talking spud status (or attitude issues etx.) it is difficult to put a line through a player in two years.

Howard is the lucky one for me. Irrespective of me thinking he's actually demonstrated he had enough tools to be a senior player I don't think it will work out that way.

I think Tutt is good enough.

[F'scary]

I have gone off him. I don't see how he is going to do anything between now and round 22 that is going to up his market value. Could have waited to the end of the year and offered one more or, more likely based on current form, cut him.

[jeemak]

Did you see the Adelaide game silver man?

[F'scary]

Did you see the Adelaide game silver man?

Yeah, he was our best forward...and we lost.

[F'scary]

Did you see the Adelaide game silver man?

sorry jeemak, I have gone into clean-out-the-list mode.

[jeemak]

Fair enough. I think that might be a counter productive course of action, however.

Of course it needs trimming, but I don't see how getting rid of the forward most likely to kick a bag is the best way to get your list into shape.

[F'scary]

When I read the article I thought the best thing Koby Stevens can do is handball to Dickson.

[F'scary]

Fair enough. I think that might be a counter productive course of action, however.

Of course it needs trimming, but I don't see how getting rid of the forward most likely to kick a bag is the best way to get your list into shape.

Ok, I'll concede somewhat. They only used a 3rd round draft pick on him. He's played a few excellent games, a few more good games and been dropped and languished in the seconds a fair bit too.

If a 2 year deal was to be offered it should have been at the end of the season with a realistic threat of poaching present.

[F'scary]

Let's see how the game goes - gotta quickly bath the cyberkids.

[boydogs]

Injured & subbed off. Hopefully he can recover and get back to his best or the timing of the deal is unfortunate

[bornadog]

Finally Tory Signs (http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/2016-07-12/veteran-dog-commits)


THE WESTERN Bulldogs have secured another important piece of its future with goalsneak Tory Dickson recommitting to the club for a further two seasons.

Dickson, who has kicked 113 goals in 68 senior games at the Bulldogs, said the decision to extend his stay at the Whitten Oval was an easy one.

The 28-year-old joins Lachie Hunter, Shane Biggs and Jack Redpath as key Dogs to commit to the club with Luke Beveridge at the helm.

"I'm over the moon because it shows tremendous faith in me from the club," Dickson told AFL.com.au.

"It extends my time at the Bulldogs for at least another two years, so it's great.

"I'm really happy to be at the Dogs."

Bulldogs list manager Jason McCartney said he was delighted to retain the services of one the first players he recruited upon starting at the club in late 2011.

"Tory has proven himself as an integral part of our forward line, with his work rate, forward craft and goal sense highlights of his game," McCartney said.

That astute recruitment sees Dickson as one the biggest bargains of the 2011 NAB AFL Draft, with the Dogs selecting the football journeyman with pick No.57.

After not playing in the TAC Cup, Dickson came to the attention of recruiters with a century of goals for suburban club Noble Park in 2009, and during stints with VFL clubs Frankston and the Bendigo Bombers.

Amid his fifth season at the kennel, Dickson says it took an appreciation for hard work and becoming a father to eight-year-old son Riley for him to realise his AFL dream.

"I've played six years of VFL and local football, and now find myself with five years of AFL footy experience. I just pinch myself at times because it's an amazing effort," he said.

"(The delay to my AFL career) was due probably to work rate because I had talent coming out of school.

"It wasn't until my third year at Frankston where I started to find my feet and understand how hard you have to work to be an AFL footballer.

"Then I had my first child and that certainly clicked me into gear."

As the Dogs approach a second consecutive finals campaign, Dickson concedes his form isn't at the level that saw him slot a career-best 50 goals in 2015.

Aductor and quad injuries wiped out his NAB Challenge preparations and they didn't see him feature at senior level until round five.

But 15 goals from 11 appearances this season have been complemented with time on the wing and trademark forward pressure he hangs his hat on.

"I haven't been that happy with my form this year because I haven't kicked many goals," Dickson said.

'It's always been in the plan for me to play a little bit more on the wing and giving the forward line different looks.

"But I'm still contributing defensively and kicking a few goals here and there."

[hujsh]

Didn't realise he's that old.

[bulldogtragic]

Something. Something. Tom Boyd. Something.

[Eastdog]

Let's hope Dicko recaptures some good form very soon.

[Ozza]

Thought he was noticeably better on Saturday night than his previous few weeks. I think BAD summed it up on another thread, his hands still weren't great - but he saw more of the footy, pressure was good, and he was involved in some important passages of play.

[comrade]

Surely it clicks for him in the next few weeks. If it does, it'll help our scoring in a big way. We need to find a couple of extra goals per week.

[Bulldog4life]

I thought he was better too. He had 20 possessions and his pressure acts were very good.

[Twodogs]

Let's hope Dicko recaptures some good form very soon.


He will. You don't lose a talent for kicking goals. It always comes back. He's a bit tentative kick through the ball when shooting for goal.