Frazer Dale hoping to be part of Myrtleford's premiership assault

Dale played two senior matches for Carlton in 2012 and last played for the Saints in 2017 when he won the club's best and fairest.

The 27-year-old said increasing work commitments as racing manager for his father and Wangaratta trainer Andrew, had forced him to miss a large chunk of pre-season training and delay his highly-anticipated comeback to football.

"Unfortunately I missed a lot of the pre-season with work," Dale said.

"Dad has given me a lot more responsibility with the business and I've been basically steering the ship for the past three months.

"Attending race meetings forced me to miss a fair bit of training.

"But I'm hopeful of being back playing within two months if I can get a solid block of training under my belt.

"So I'm still a while away but hopefully I can get back for the second-half of the season."

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Dale was unsure what impact he could have after more than three years on the sidelines.

"I don't have any real expectations and I can't believe it has been more than three years since I last played - it's gotten away from me fairly quickly," he said.

"The body is feeling good at the moment though and I'm getting more confidence with each training session.

"I suppose it's still unknown if I can handle the rigors of playing again until I give it a crack.

"But I'm only 27 so we will see how it all unfolds."

The Saints were widely tipped at the start of the season to be a genuine premiership contender.

However, they were given a harsh reality check by flag favourite Wangaratta on the weekend after being thumped by 11-goals.

The margin could have easily been a lot more after a wasteful Magpies booted 1.16 in the first-half.

Dale has been an interested onlooker at the Saints' first two matches against North Albury and Wangaratta.

"There is a real buzz around the club this season which only fuels my desire to get back playing," he said.

"I've gone to watch both matches.

"Even though it was a big loss on the weekend, I think there is still a lot of improvement and positives to come out of the match.

"There were some real good individual performances and Nathan Laracy was a standout in defence.

"All the back six did a commendable job considering how much the ball was down there.

"Yes, Wangaratta missed a lot of shots on goal but you have to attribute some of that to the pressure they were under."

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