Dougal Howard

Dougal Howard
Howard playing in 2018 for Port Adelaide
Personal information
Date of birth (1996-03-25) 25 March 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
Original team(s) Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)/Wagga Tigers (NSW)
Draft No. 56, 2014 national draft
Height 199 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 95 kg (209 lb)
Position(s) Key defender
Club information
Current club St Kilda
Number 20
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2015–2019 Port Adelaide 45 (14)
2020– St Kilda 90 (1)
Total 135 (15)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2024 season.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Dougal Howard (born 25 March 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Formerly playing for Port Adelaide, which recruited him with pick 56 in the 2014 national draft,[1] he was traded to St Kilda at the end of the 2019 season.

Early life and junior football

Howard was born and raised in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales and he played his junior football with the East Wagga Kooringal club.[2] As a teenager he moved to Albury to study at university where he played with the Murray Bushrangers and attracted the interest of AFL scouts.[3]

AFL career

Port Adelaide

Howard made his debut in the first Showdown of the 2016 AFL season at Adelaide Oval.[4] Howard played only three games until an anterior cruciate ligament injury ended his season prematurely.[5]

Howard played 20 games in the 2018 AFL season, only missing two games with a broken hand. He played some impressive shut-down jobs on the league's best forwards and lead the competition for one-percenters with 230. He signed a three-year contract extension with Port Adelaide until the end of 2022.[6] In 2019, Howard captained Port Adelaide in the club's round 9, 38-point win against Gold Coast at Adelaide Oval. After the game, coach Ken Hinkley said of Howard that "we absolutely believe that Dougal's an emerging leader of our football club ... We saw an occasional mistake, we saw some really impressive stuff, we saw a willingness to take the game on – that's what you want from a young leader, that's not to let it burden him."[7]

St Kilda

See also: 2020 St Kilda Football Club season and 2021 St Kilda Football Club season

At the conclusion of the 2019 AFL season, Howard requested a trade to St Kilda. The trade was finalised on 15 October and Howard was traded to St Kilda along with Port teammate Paddy Ryder and pick 10 and a 2020 fourth-round selection, in return for the Saints' picks 12 and 18 and a 2020 third-round selection.[8] Howard also attracted attention from North Melbourne and Essendon but ultimately chose St Kilda.[9] Before moving to the Saints, Howard was told at his exit interview that Port saw his future as a forward rather than a defender. A week after the exit interview, Port Adelaide list manager Jason Cripps suggested that a trade could be an option for Howard, who ultimately explored his options and eventually requested a move to St Kilda.[10]

Howard played every game in defence in his first season at St Kilda, which ultimately resulted in the club's first finals berth since 2011. He was subsequently named St Kilda's vice-captain ahead of the 2021 AFL season.

In round 2 of the 2021 season, Howard was one of the best in the Saints' loss to Melbourne, collecting 29 disposals, eight marks, nine intercept possessions, nine rebound 50s, four score involvements and gained 769 metres (most on ground).Howard finished seventh in the Trevor Barker Award in 2021.[11]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2021 season[12]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2016 Port Adelaide 32 6 3 4 30 20 50 14 17 0.50 0.67 5.00 3.33 8.33 2.33 2.83
2017 Port Adelaide 32 4 1 0 43 12 55 27 3 0.25 0 10.75 3.00 13.75 6.75 0.75
2018 Port Adelaide 32 20 0 0 158 60 218 40000 29 0.0 0.0 7.90 3.00 10.90 4.35 1.45
2019 Port Adelaide 32 15 10 6 114 60 174 67 22 0.67 0.40 7.60 4.00 11.60 4.47 1.47
2020[a] St Kilda 20 18 1 1 151 34 185 74 22 0.10 0.10 8.40 1.90 10.30 1.60 1.20
2021 St Kilda 20 21 0 1 256 68 324 102 25 0.0 0.05 12.19 3.24 15.43 4.86 1.19
Career 85 15 12 760 258 1018 373 119 0.18 0.14 8.64 3.04 11.98 4.39 1.40

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ^ "Dougal Howard pick 56". Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  2. ^ Wagga's Dougal Howard snapped up by Port Adelaide in AFL draft By Matt Malone 28 November 2014
  3. ^ Howard to debut in front of home crowd 12 March 2015
  4. ^ Rucci, Michelangelo (1 April 2016). "Port Adelaide loses Jay Schulz and Hamish Hartlett and calls up ruckman-forward Dougal Howard". The Advertiser.
  5. ^ Agius, Matthew (20 June 2016). "ACL confirmed for Howard, surgery successful".
  6. ^ Gaskin, Lee (3 December 2018). "Power lock in key defender until end of 2022".
  7. ^ "'Emerging leader' takes the captaincy reins for the Power". afl.com.au. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  8. ^ "Saints' double delight: Power pair off to Moorabbin". afl.com.au. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  9. ^ Ryan, Peter (9 October 2019). "Port Adelaide's Dougal Howard wants to join St Kilda". The Age. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  10. ^ "The surprises that set Dougal Howard off on his unexpected path to St Kilda". 7NEWS.com.au. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Steele joins elite company with back-to-back Trevor Barker Awards". saints.com.au. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Dougal Howard stats". AFL Tables. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
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