FORMER Carlton player Frazer Dale is set to reignite his career with Myrtleford next year.
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The 26-year-old quit football at the end of 2017 to complete his racing steward cadetship.
Dale has since had a stint in Sydney working for Peter and Paul Snowden.
He relocated to Wangaratta mid-year to join his father, Andrew, who is a former Saints coach and Morris medal runner-up, at his Wangaratta stables.
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Dale said he had plenty of work to do on his fitness after two years on the sidelines.
"I've signed with Myrtleford and have got a couple of pre-season sessions under the belt," Dale said.
"Those first couple of sessions were a timely reminder how much work I need to do over the summer to regain my fitness.
"We are fortunate to have a very good fitness coach at the club in Brendan Wood and hopefully he can whip me into half-decent shape by the time the season rolls around.
"I've just turned 26 and feel if I can put in the hard yards and get myself fit than I can get back to playing some decent football."
Dale revealed having two years off football had allowed him to refresh both physically and mentally.
"I think it was good to get away and just freshen up mentally," he said.
"I'm really looking forward to getting back into it and playing again and hopefully having an impact.
"I think I have got a much better mindset and I have missed being involved in a footy club and hanging around with all the boys.
"I think there is a really good culture at the club at the moment and I'm excited to be a part of it all again."
After making the preliminary final this year the Saints look well poised to progress further into the September action next season.
The Saints have now added two former AFL players after having also recently signing retired Greater Western Sydney ruckman Dawson Simpson as assistant coach.
Simpson is the biggest signing of the off-season after having played nine matches for GWS this year.
The only confirmed departure from McNamara Reserve is Blake Parker.
In a further bonus the Saints have also signed fringe Wangaratta player Lachie Hourigan.
Saints coach, Jake Sharp, said there would be no pressure on Dale in his comeback season.
"There is no pressure on 'Fraze', if he can get back to his best it would be fantastic," he said.
"He's working really hard at the moment to get a nice solid fitness base in, we reckon he can get back to his best form pretty quickly.
"Two years out of footy is a long time for your body, I don't think 'smarts' he'll lose anything, it will be just getting back into the swing of a big pre-season.
"Just making sure the body is up to every session, that's probably the biggest thing we've got to monitor."