Hope grows for injured Carson’s return

CHAMPION footballer Dale Carson may yet resurrect his career after scans revealed the 33-year-old would not require surgery on a broken wrist.

The Anglesea forward was prepared to call time on his decorated career after suffering the break but has reassessed his future and is likely to play on at the Roos.

The BFL club, which finished seventh and missed finals this year, has already begun talks with prospective recruits in the hope to land a key forward.

But if Carson pulls on the boots again, the former Geelong West and St Joseph’s star may return to the backline where he played a pivotal part in the Joeys’ 2015 premiership.

“Initially he thought if surgery was required that would be the end of him but as time has gone on in the back half of the year, I think he’s seen a bit of progress from the footy side,” brother and Anglesea coach Paul Carson said.

“Deep down he still wants to be a part of it. He’s dodged surgery.

“He’s indicated if we could pick up a key forward, that he’d more than likely love to stay on and play a defensive role.

“That would be a real bonus if we could get a key forward and he obviously slots into a key back, which he’s proven in past years he’s very good at. That would be good for our footy club.”

Paul Carson, a Mathieson Medallist who will be in his second season as coach next year, has a handful of targets in sight to help return the Roos to finals next year.

Those discussions began this week and Carson is hoping to land a couple of key players in the next month. “We’re in the search, mate, and we’re going pretty hard,” he said.

“By any means, we’re not going to go stupid with it, we’re not going to pay overs. Our priority is midfield depth, so we’re chasing a couple of Agrade midfielders really hard and I hope within the next week or two we should have pen to paper with a couple of absolute rippers.

“That’s probably more the priority than a forward, but I’m not taking anything away from chasing a key forward.

“It’s more our mids that we’re looking to add a little bit of depth to.”

The Roos have re-signed their entire playing list, but are yet to secure any fresh faces for 2018.

“It’s not through lack of trying, I’ve had meeting after meeting every night this week,” Carson said.

“In fairness, we’ve been finished for nearly a month now, so I’m pretty proactive on it.

“We’re not just chasing anyone on the market; we’ve specifically targeted a few guys and have had a good crack at them — they’re the guys I’ve spoken to this week.

“We’re hoping now in the next week or two things will start sorting themselves out.”

And Carson strongly believes a few new recruits will help take Anglesea back into finals.

“We had a shocking run with injury this year to key personnel, and we think with a healthy list, if we did not recruit one player, we’d probably think we’d be close to playing finals next year anyway,” he said.

“We believe if we target and pick up the right couple of players, it’s going to hold us in really good stead, and we can get back up there with the top couple in the BFL.”