Tory Dickson surpassed expectations in his debut season with his goal sense and composure, but the 25-year-old is not relying on his current bag of tricks for 2013.

Honing his forward craft and fitness, Dickson attributes a full pre-season to his most recent improvements as he prepares for NAB Cup in less than four weeks time.

“It’s good to get a full pre-season for one, in terms of skin folds and fitness to where I was last year I am a lot further progressed,” Dickson said.

“I did a lot more on the offseason this year and tried to keep as much fitness as possible and tried to keep in good shape.

“I’m going really well and I am really enjoying the workload and the training.”

Drafted with the Bulldogs third round draft selection in 2011, the Bendigo Bombers recruit finished second in the Club’s goal kicking tally last year with 23 goals – but Dickson still sees areas for improvement in his work around goals.

“I’ve obviously got things I need to work on in terms of stoppage craft, crumbing and body position and things like that,” he said.

“If I want to improve then these are the factors of my game that I need to improve to get to that higher level.”

With NAB Cup looming, Dickson is eager to put his new, improved skill set to the test when the Bulldogs take on Collingwood and Essendon on Friday 15 February 2013 at Etihad Stadium.

“NAB Cup is only four weeks away [and I’m] really looking forward to our first hit-out, we can obviously work on stuff we have worked on all pre-season,” he said.”