Dougal Howard

[B.M]

What did we think of his game?

Again I thought he was poor! Beaten one on one easily and made some poor decisions- like a doubl fist spoil into the corridor to give up a goal.

He is our number 1 defender and at the moment I have him as the weakest link in our back 7

[Vortex]

Connecting the dots here, question marks over why he departed Port, rumours he wasn't good with taking direction and refused to play a position to help the team, thought he was captain material, has just been dumped from the leadership group. We recruit a player like Cordy for an area of the ground where we were adequately stocked, or rather we had much greater recruiting needs in the mid and forward line.

The positives: Lyon is a defense minded coach with a magic wand that can turn average players into much better players. At least with Cordy in the team he has competition for his spot.

[Templar]

Doesn't an AFL team need more than a few big bodied enforcer types? Howard is not the biggest but has the potential to hold his own against a gorilla. Not many other candidates to choose from ifor this role n the squad. So Howard and Cordy are both important to the team. With more system they are key to our defence this year.

[saynta]

Howard got better, the longer the game went

[Killa]

The rumours as to why Howard departed Port Adelaide are wrong - and totally wrong

My source at Alberton is impeccable

Port Adelaide did all they could to retain him, but a particular circumstance not related to on field saw him determined to leave

The Port Adelaide CEO and the then St Kilda List Manager have same background in Adelaide

Howard had Captained Port Adelaide, at a very early stage of his career

Within sporting Clubs (and across life) people fall out with people for a raft of reasons

Some reconcile at a level, but not personally

Look at Edwards and McLeod at Adelaide

[Killa]

The rumours as to why Howard departed Port Adelaide are wrong - and totally wrong

My source at Alberton is impeccable

Port Adelaide did all they could to retain him, but a particular circumstance not related to on field saw him determined to leave

The Port Adelaide CEO and the then St Kilda List Manager have same background in Adelaide

Howard had Captained Port Adelaide, at a very early stage of his career

Within sporting Clubs (and across life) people fall out with people for a raft of reasons

Some reconcile at a level, but not personally

Look at Edwards and McLeod at Adelaide

[Saintmike65]

What did we think of his game?

Again I thought he was poor! Beaten one on one easily and made some poor decisions- like a doubl fist spoil into the corridor to give up a goal.

He is our number 1 defender and at the moment I have him as the weakest link in our back 7

Wilkie is clearly our number 1 defender..Howard is a worry!!

[Otiman]

All about matchups. Not sure who his direct opponent was, but Peter Wright who I would say he matches up well with did nothing.

[Banger9798]

He was a liability in the first half, looked confused.
Thought he got better.
But often looks lost...Ross will sort him out.

[shanegrambeau]

Against Freo, would you imagine Doogs goes to Luke Jackson? Matt Taberner?

[The_Dud]

Howard had a poor season last year, often getting exposed for terrible decision making.

Wilkie is a far superior defender but just doesn’t have the physical attributes of Howard.

Hopefully Ross can whip him into shape.

[SaintPav]

Unfortunately, Howard has gone backwards the last 2 seasons.

I wonder how he would go if he was freed up a bit and allowed to play a more attacking style of game?

[skeptic]

My impression is that Howard and our defence flourished most in 2020 when the structure was primarily something along the lines of:

Paton, Howard, Wilkie
Coffield, Carlisle, Clark

It was a structure that saw all 3 of Howard, Carlisle and Wilkie assume bigger bodied spoiling/contested marking work with Coffield providing additional aerial support.

And peak (to that point) ground level work from Clark, Coffield and Paton + a competitive midfield to assist saw us looking very organised and competitive down back.

My feeling has been for quite a while that since Carlisle retired, Coffield and Clark have largely been out injured… Wilkie has had to play taller and be more accountable (as opposed to drifting off to chop out), Battle has been added and he’s admirable but a bit undersized, Websters covered Paton and has been ok but not outstanding + Long, Hill, and Sinclair have all assumed primarily play maker roles at times…

I think Howard has just felt greater pressure to get to contests to spoil and as a result, have been far less accountable to his own opponent.

The reoccurring observation again and again is that he breaks structure to get to a contest and often gets caught out. My gut says that rather than that be primarily a Howard issue… it’s actually a bit of a reflection that our defence has really been quite incoherent for a while.

Wilkie, Battle and Webster have avoided the same level of scrutiny and I think that is at least in part due to the fact that they’ve stuck more exclusively to their roles/tasks which has made them look good but… it may have at times resulted in others not looking as good

Bottom line for me is that our structure and system needs a big makeover before we can more accurately start pointing fingers

[Yorkeys]

P. Wright; 1 goal.

[Killa]

IMO, correct Skeptic

We have never covered the loss of Carlisle - including in that Final v Richmond

That structural deficiency has seen Frawley (for a Season as cover) and now Cordy added

We need one of our young brigade to make the grade, starting with Adams

Then we lost Clark, Coffield and Paton, all taken in the same Draft incidentally

We also need Heath to progress

And support for King

[saynta]

Dougal did gift the first goal to the druggies courtesy of a two fisted punch.

The maggots gifted the druggies their two remaining goals.

[SaintPav]

Maggots!!!

[saynta]

Maggots!!!

Well, what else would you call them?

[Templar]

Dougal did gift the first goal to the druggies courtesy of a two fisted punch.

Was like a love tap. He'd be embarrased but only practice match. I think we will see him become a solid key part of defence. Lets hope it doesnt get down there too much and he can treat us with a few cameos.

[WellardSaint]

A couple of things stood out, for me.
He missed an easy mark under no pressure at all, and another thing which I can't recall, had me shaking my head

[shanegrambeau]

Practice matches are the best time to miss marks.

I think we should watch the first ten minutes of the Spud game to see our defense under pressure.

But now with Ross it maybe a different v all game.

Why, please tell, does Paton no longer seem to appeal to the selectors as a back pocket?

[CQ SAINT]

Looked to me like the forward was offered open spaces, in hard to kick from positions, and took them, but collectively we controlled the defensive 50m from about the 5 min mark of the 1st quarter. So, what can you do?
2MeatsPete takes those lines, can kick and can be dangerous.
Attacking forwards have a hard time in heavy winds, doesn't make defending any easier either
Howard is going to improve. He plays football like an athlete. Hopefully Lyon will get in his head and let him play CHB and attack the ball and run or crash packs.

Let Wilkie and Battle defend.

[SaintPav]

Maggots!!!

Well, what else would you call them?

I was agreeing with you.

[Scollop]

P. Wright; 1 goal.

uuuhhhhhmmmm... It was actually 1 goal and 4 behinds.

Essendon were crap but Wright beat Howard. I think Weideman also out marked him on 1-2 occasions

[Yorkeys]

P. Wright; 1 goal.

uuuhhhhhmmmm... It was actually 1 goal and 4 behinds.

Essendon were crap but Wright beat Howard. I think Weideman also out marked him on 1-2 occasions

N. Buckley agrees with you that Essendon were crap. Thinks it's list is better than ours, but. (?). Wright was often up the ground trying to get kicks and would really need his icebath at the end, Dougal made him earn everything, hurt him. And 1 goal is 1 goal. Dougal went ok.