Group 4: Lynken Dickson on returning to league, nerves, and a historic grand final

The 25-year-old has spent the majority of his life competing in one way or another. He, like many kids from regional NSW, grew up playing rugby league, and took up boxing when he was 12.

But after stepping away from league in 2017 to focus on a prospective career as a pugilist, he returned to footy in 2023 and experienced something he had never felt before: nerves.

"I've been getting really nervous this year ... I don't really know why," Dickson said.

It comes as a surprise to the 26-year-old who, during his 14 years in boxing, fought across Australia and internationally.

He is used to the pressure and spotlight that comes with high-level sport, but 2023 has been intangibly different.

After struggling to book a fight for his professional debut, Dickson finally decided to hang up the gloves earlier this year when his long-time coach, Mike Abra, retired.

He soon realised, however, that he couldn't stay idle.

"I stopped doing everything for a bit, but for my mental health, I needed to pursue something else that was competitive," Dickson said.

"I've been boxing all my life, since I was 12, so to go from doing that to absolutely nothing, it was hard. But footy really helped me with my mental health, to have that competition and drive."

What he didn't expect, upon returning to the ranks of the North Tamworth Bears, was to be playing first grade again so soon.

And with that quick promotion into the team came expectation - not from Dickson's teammates, but from himself.

"I just don't want to let my family down, I don't want to let my teammates down," he said.

"I think there was a lot of pressure after having that time off, then giving me the break to come into first grade. For them showing faith in me, I don't want to let them down, and that does make me a bit nervous."

But rather than succumb to his anxiety, Dickson has risen to the occasion.

He has been superb at fullback for the Bears since rejoining the first grade side, and believes this Saturday's grand final against the Moree Boars will bring out his best form.

"I always get excited to play the best teams in the comp," Dickson said.

"It always feels better to beat the best teams in the competition, so I always get excited to play them. It is more pressure on me, but I feed off that. And I feel like I play better when I am nervous, it shows I care."

With "so many good individual players", Dickson fully understands the threat that the Boars pose. But the reason, he believes, that Norths have beaten them in two successive games is the Bears' ability to play as one cohesive unit.

"We play as a team, we play as one unit," he said.

"We're moving as that one unit now, where I feel that was a big change from the start of the year [where North Tamworth struggled]."

Of course, it will help that the Bourke product will also have much of his family watching and cheering him on at the final, including his partner, Erin, and his three kids.

"My mum and dad will be down here, and my uncle is going to travel from Bourke with my nan and pop," Dickson said.

"I'll have a bit of support there, hopefully I can make them proud."

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