Port assistant Nathan Bassett says young gun Dougal Howard failed to make the most of his chances before being let go by the club
Dougal Howard’s departure from Port Adelaide was one of the biggest moments of the 2019 AFL trade period, and Power assistant coach Nathan Bassett has shed more light about the youngster’s exit.
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Former Port Adelaide utility Dougal Howard failed to make the most of his opportunities before being traded to St Kilda, according to Power assistant coach Nathan Bassett.
Howard’s departure to the Saints was one of the biggest moments of the 2019 AFL trade period, with Port’s decision to offload the up-and-coming 23-year-old drawing the ire of many of its supporters.
Speaking with Dwayne Russell on SEN SA on Wednesday afternoon, Bassett said Howard hadn’t quite grasped his chances at AFL level, adding the club’s young crop of talls would hold it in good stead next season.
“Dougal certainly showed some things at both ends of the ground without quite grasping his opportunity at either end last season,” he said.
“We certainly had our battles for most of the season with our taller forwards.
“Todd (Marshall) is a young developing player, he’s just turned 21, so he’s still learning his trade... he had a lot of growth last year in terms of being able to train more, being tougher and stronger for longer.
“And then Pete Ladhams has shown some excellent growth and now it’s probably about working on his marking craft so that he can be a consistent aerial target because he’s very good below his knees.”
Bassett added the Power already had a number of potential options to replace small forward Sam Gray, who was delisted by the club last week and has since joined Sydney.
“Connor Rozee had an outstanding year, Zak Butters is getting better and very talented young footballer Kane Farrell has certainly shown a little bit in his AFL time.
“I really like Tobin Cox, I think he’s got a lot of potential.
“So, we’ve got some goodish prospects there, and we’d probably expect to add in that space in the draft.”
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Earlier this week, runner-up AFL Rising Star Connor Rozee indicated he would push coach Ken Hinkley for more midfield time, as a way to increase the Power’s leg speed around the stoppages.
However, Bassett said that would depend on team balance.
“We’ve got a lot of inside mids, and it made it difficult for him to get in there at times last year,” he said.
“If we can, (we’ll) expose him to a little more training time inside, and a bit more game time as well...so he can grow as a footballer and potentially move into that space in a couple of years.”
Meanwhile, veteran key forward Charlie Dixon returned to training today, as did Brad Ebert, and Bassett expects both to line-up alongside each other next season, with the latter spending more time in the forward half.
“I think Brad would share his time between forward and midfield,” he said.
“He’s an outstanding mark, he only played 10 games last year and a couple of those he got injured in.
“I think Brad has got a lot of potential to be almost a key forward for us, given his strength in the air.
“If we can get a full season out of those guys (Ebert and Dixon), it will make a big difference for us.”