Take one look at him, and he is destined to play in the second row for any rugby side.
Coming in at 2.03m tall, Dickson (17) is a tower of strength for the unbeaten Otago Boys' High School First XV.
The young tight forward has been one of the best in the side this season, his lineout ability and speed around the field a real asset for the team.
"I've always been taller than most other kids my age. My mum and dad aren't tall people but I've got twin sisters and a brother, who are younger than me, and they are all tall, too," he said.
"I started out on the wing when I first started playing in the under-11s, but as soon as lineouts started being important, about under-14s, then I went into the forwards."
Dickson started playing rugby in Wanaka, where his family still lives, and then played for Mt Aspiring College, when he went to secondary school.
Wanting to go further in the game, and being signed up by the Otago Rugby Football Union's apprentice programme, he moved to Otago Boys' High School at the start of last year.
He puts the exceptional record of the side this year - winning 23 straight games - down to hard work, good coaching and pride in the side.
"I think Mr Martin [coach Ryan Martin] has brought back a lot of respect for the team, which was how it was in his era. He has brought in a really good training ethic and the guys just love it.
"It's awesome. Mr Martin has to hold us back all the time at training."
Dickson, a year 13 pupil, also dabbled in basketball, and was the centre for the Otago under-19 team at the national tournament in Dunedin earlier this year.
He has trained a few times with the Otago Nuggets but rugby commitments meant he could not spend too much time with them.
Dickson is fully focused on the oval ball this week, as Otago Boys' faces Napier Boys' High School in the national top four tournament, in Rotorua. It is the first time in a decade Otago Boys has made the top four, so there is plenty on the line for the school.
"It is a huge game for us but we are pretty confident of getting into them and giving it everything. We just have to play our own game and come out all guns blazing. We've been a bit slow in the start in games we've played so we've got to change that this week."
Dickson has played some games on the blindside flank this season when Troy Callander has been injured.
He enjoyed the time to get wide and quicker out of the scrum but with Callander fully fit, he will lock the scrum on Saturday.
He is one of eight players from the school side chosen in a 60-strong squad to pick the New Zealand school side. The others are prop Jermaine Ainsley, hooker Sekonaia Pole, Callander, No 8 Alex Fitzgerald, halfback Josh Renton, midfield back Aleki Morris and fullback Sean Conner.
"They are going to have a camp in Rotorua after the top four, but if we make it through to the final then we won't be going to the camp. So either way, it is all good," Dickson said.
