‘Home’ hub just the trick for out-of-contract Dixon
QUEENSLANDER Charlie Dixon is back where it all started – and hoping to use the “home” conditions as a springboard to gaining a new contract with Port Adelaide.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the 29-year-old forward back to the Gold Coast, where the Power have established a short-term hub.
The Cairns product was the first player signed by the Suns – and etched his name further in history by becoming their first goalkicker in the AFL.
But after five frustrating seasons, Dixon headed to the Power on a lucrative five-year deal from 2016.
Arguably their most important player, the 202cm giant wants a big season in what is the last year of his current deal.
Dixon enjoyed a career-best season in 2017, booting 49 goals, but it remains the only year in which the underperforming Power have contested finals while he’s been there.
Dixon then broke a leg towards the end of the 2018 season and was restricted to just nine games in 2019.
After his “most enjoyable” pre-season, Dixon is beaming, having played no small part in the Power’s surge to the top.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about it at the start of that (coronavirus) break,” he said of his contract status.
“But I’ve got to let my football do the talking and try not to dwell on it too much. I’ve got to give myself the best opportunity to get another contract.”
It’s so far so good with Dixon kicking three goals in the record-breaking Showdown win over the Crows in Adelaide and then kicking another two – and claiming five contested marks – in the victory over Fremantle at Metricon Stadium, in his first outing at the Carrara venue since his time as a Sun in 2015.
“I was running around the back oval at Metricon with (Power teammate and another former Sun) Trent McKenzie and a few of the boys, I was thinking, ‘S***, I didn’t think I’d ever be back on this oval,’ but here we are,” he said.
“It’s definitely a different situation, but it’s actually amazing to be back up here. I forgot how good the weather is during winter … walking around with shorts and a singlet on, it’s something I’ve missed.”
Despite a tweak of the groin in a pre-season game – and overcoming any mental demons associated with his broken leg – Dixon is in the best shape of his career.
He made the most of lockdown by training with Power great and assistant coach Chad Cornes, and a photo of the pair, shirtless and showing off their six-packs after a session, did the rounds on social media.