St Kilda recruit Dougal Howard opens up on the ‘weirdest week’ of his football life, and how Brett Ratten lured him long-distance

There’s been nothing normal about this week as Dougal Howard prepares to play his first game for St Kilda. He explains the Saints’ bizarre week and opens up on how trade from the Power went down.

Dougal Howard will play his first game for the Saints in Round 1. Picture: Michael Klein

This has been the weirdest week of Dougal Howard’s football life.

The new Saint will make his debut in red, white and black today.

No fans, no family.

No roar, no smell of hot chips.

There’s no pretending it is just another week, just another game, as coronavirus grips the game.

Howard knows that.

“I probably refreshed the AFL app 50 times that day waiting to see what had come out,” Howard said of waiting to hear whether today’s clash with North Melbourne would be played.

“Like a lot of the country, I think.

“It’s great news to hear that we’re playing. It’s been a long pre-season and everyone was hanging out for it to mean something, the last few months, and to show what we’ve worked for. That’s the hardest part, and early in the week it was all up in the air still, so you’ve still got to come in and still prepare as if we were playing.”

He estimates the team’s schedule “chopped and changed 10 times” this week, with more emails than usual and players encouraged to keep to themselves as much as possible in an effort to protect themselves.

His routine hasn’t changed too much – maybe a bit more golf at Aspendale’s Rossdale Golf Club as he and his teammates waited to learn their football fate.

They tried to “keep it as normal as possible”. It wasn’t.

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New Saint Dougal Howard is loving life at Moorabbin. Picture: Michael Klein

Sunday won’t be, either.

Howard, 23, watched Thursday night’s season-opener between Richmond and Carlton with a keen eye, and reckons the Tigers set the bar for every other team this weekend.

“You’ve got to create your own energy,” he said.

“We’re going to play for our fans, even without them being there. Hopefully we saw on Thursday right from the word go, Richmond were on … and played their way.

“I think most teams would have watched that and thought that was a bit of a blueprint of the way to start the season. No doubt we’ll be trying to jump out of the blocks like they did.”

Like many relationships, Howard and St Kilda’s started long-distance.

Flights across states, phone calls.

But this was no regular rom-com.

This was AFL trade period, where the plot can turn on a dime at any second – Howard knew that.

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He made the first move, in need of what he described as “a fresh start” after four seasons at Port Adelaide. He had a few mates at Moorabbin who spoke fondly of a bloke they called “Ratts”.

“It was a bit of both (me travelling to Victoria and the Saints coming to SA),” Howard said.

“I came over to Melbourne and met them, and then Ratts (St Kilda coach Brett Ratten) came to Adelaide and met me.

“A lot of stuff on the phone, as well, and contact with a couple of players. I knew a couple of the boys at the Saints that I was mates with prior to coming here, so that was pretty handy, and obviously being in close contact with them.”

It might have seemed a speedy resolution once the deal was done in October, with Howard, ruck Paddy Ryder, pick 10 and a future fourth-round selection sent to Moorabbin for picks 12, 18 and a future third-round pick.

Howard (right) in his Power days. Picture: Sarah Reed

But it dragged for Howard, who still had three years to run on his contract.

The Wagga product insisted there were “no hard feelings”. But he conceded that after his arrival some declarations that the Saints “won” the trade period, there was pressure.

“Definitely,” he said.

“There’s a bit of pressure there.

“But I think everyone is going to be under it … there’s a lot of new guys at different clubs that are going through the same thing as me.

“It’s probably not too much different to playing AFL previously – you always get nervous and feel the pressure of it. All the talk about it, I guess probably I didn’t read into it too much. After the trade period, I went back home to Wagga and left footy behind for a month or so and got away from it all, which was great.”

He’s relishing a full-time spot in defence, having been swung forward at times for Port, and spent much of his summer manning today’s star debutant, Max King.

“He’s pretty tough to play on – he’s big, mobile, got very good skills,” Howard said.

“It’s going to be an odd debut for him, but a debut is a debut.”

Originally published as St Kilda recruit Dougal Howard opens up on the ‘weirdest week’ of his football life, and how Brett Ratten lured him long-distance