Reddit mentions of 12" Flat Leather Tug 2-Handles

I do not do agility, but I use these tugs as "treats" with my girl.

Yes, if I leave it with her, she will tear it up. But she loves playing tug with me so that is her first choice.

You can find stick-shaped toys pretty easily, like

• hollow rubber ones
  
• fuzzy squeaky ones
  
  but they aren't made of wood, so if that's his driver then they might not grab his interest.
  
  He might also enjoy toys made from more natural materials, like rope, leather, or wool.
  
  
• my dog went nuts for this wool tug
  
• haven't used this, but leather looks good...https://www.amazon.com/12-Flat-Leather-Tug-2-handles/dp/B009L5DDAE
  
  If he's food driven as well, you can get tug toys that hide food to quickly build his interest in the toy. Clean Run is a great source of this sort of equipment in general.
  
  To some degree, you may be able to transfer his stick drive onto the new toy. Produce the new toy, get his interest, play (to whatever degree he'll play). While he's interacting with the toy, mark (praise or click) and throw a stick he didn't know you even had. That way playing with the new toy predicts excitement. With repetition he'll start to get automatically excited when he sees the toy. Just make sure he doesn't know you have a stick right away, or he'll focus on that instead of the new toy. Make sure you take away the toy when you're done playing, so it stays special.