‘Guns’ intends to bounce back

Tuesday 15th Sep 2020, 10:18 AM

By Darren Hallesy

Rogan Dean’s life changed forever when his Rugby League career was cut short after a motorbike accident last month.

Losing a foot in the incident, it meant that he had to give up his career with the Ipswich Jets and his NRL aspirations, and it means life has presented him with a raft of new challenges.

It won’t be an easy road, but the man they call ‘Guns’ isn’t taking this setback lying down. Right now he’s focused on his rehabilitation and looking forward to the sports he can put his skills to, while still doing what he can at the Ipswich Jets.

With an appeal out for him on Go Fund Me, Rogan is humbled by the support and messages he’s received from the Jets family across the Ipswich region. He spoke about how he’s going, his plans and his attitude to his new life off the footy field…for now.

How are you going since your accident?

I’m just staying positive, doing my rehab, and I’m right now focused on getting a new leg. I’m going to the hospital a few times a week and I’m waiting for the tissue to heal.

I’ve started a shrinking process where I wear a compression sock over my ‘stump’ for two weeks, and that shrinking will continue for a few years yet, but in the first few weeks it shrinks quite rapidly so I’m wearing a compression sock to speed things up. I’m ahead of progress in the rehab, the doctors are quite happy with how I’m going.

After that’s worn, they will then make a cast of my leg so the people who make the prosthetic will go away from there and start making it, which can take up to four weeks.

Then once that’s ready I’ll be doing the physio and learning to walk again. The first few weeks will be tough, as it will take a while to get used to, then it depends how quick I can take to it and keep progressing. I’m hoping to have that prosthetic within the next five weeks.

Has being a professional sportsperson helped you with the rehab?

I think it’s helped being a footy player, I’m used to dealing with injury and rehab. It was hard to take at first, but once I accepted it, it is what it is. I just took the attitude that I couldn’t control the accident, but I can control how I come back from it.

I’m a naturally positive person, there’s not point sitting around moping about it, that’s not going to fix anything. What I can control is how I bounce back.

Have you had a chance to think about your future?

I’m solely focused on the rehab, then I’ll look at moving forward. I plan to stay involved with the Ipswich Jets, and sport in general. I’ll still be around in one capacity or another.

I want to get into new sports for my own competitive side, whether that’s athletics, bike riding, rowing. I don’t want this leg to be the end of me, I still want to be an athlete. I just need some new tools. The thought of playing new sports and working with the Jets down the track really excites me.

How do you feel about the support you’ve received?

The support I’ve got from the community has been overwhelming and its coming from every direction. The amount of good people out there willing to help, I’m so appreciative.

I’m still the same person, with the same drive, the same determination.

This is just a setback. There’s still many things I can do, this won’t be the end of me.

What does the club mean to you?

Ipswich Jets means ‘family’ to me. It’s the best club I’ve ever been involved in, the support I’ve got from the club and the people involved has been sensational.

Are you willing to share the secret of how get arms like Rogan ‘Guns’ Dean?

To be honest, these arms are the result of being a scrawny kid and having to put on weight. I wasn’t a big kid, always lean and slender. I had to put on size, so I knew I had to work hard and going to the gym is part of my life now, it has been for a long time.

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