After a stellar 1983 season as The Bloods number one ruckman, Mickan was cruelly robbed of the chance to play in West Adelaide's Grand Final win (the club's first in 22 years) over Sturt due to a torn posterior ligament suffered in Round 20 of the 22 round regular season against Woodville at Football Park in the early game of a double header.
His place in the side was taken by 6'7" (200 cm) tall Dirk de Jong, who had actually retired from league football earlier in the year but was persuaded to come back after Mickan's injury by coach Neil Kerley.
Following the 1986 SANFL season in which West Adelaide finished in seventh place, Mickan left to join the new Brisbane Bears playing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1987.
This is especially noteworthy given the team included 1986 Collingwood club captain Mark "Chocco" Williams, who was appointed as Mickan's vice-captain, as well as the 1985 Brownlow Medallist Brad Hardie.
While the newly formed side suffered many crises during its early years Mickan's skills were recognised and he was named in the All-Australian Team following the 1988 Bicentennial Carnival played in Adelaide.
Mickan returned to South Australia to play for the newly formed Australian Football League (AFL) team the Adelaide Crows in 1991, winning Adelaide's inaugural Club Champion award despite missing the first three rounds of the season due to Crows coach Graham Cornes early preference for 6'8" (204 cm) ruckman Romano Negri.
He left the position before the start of 2013, but was appointed Bloods head coach for the 2014 SANFL season, replacing Andrew Collins who had chosen to return home to Melbourne after 6 years and one Grand Final appearance (2012) with the club.