DOUGAL HOWARD held a press conference on Monday after it was announced he had recommitted to the club until the end of 2022.
The mobile key defender was the No. 56 overall selection of the 2014 NAB AFL Draft and has played 30 games since his debut in 2016 including 20 in 2018.
After transitioning from being a key forward into the backline, Howard led the competition in one-percenters last season and he holds the competition record for spoils in a single game, with 22.
During his press conference he discussed his reasons for wanting to stay at Alberton, what he wants to work on during the pre-season and who he thinks might be able to replace Travis Boak as captain in 2019.
Dougal Howard on re-signing until 2022:
“For me it was a pretty easy decision in the end. The club is moving in the right direction and I’ve got some good mates here at the club now and they’ve signed on with Dan (Houston) and Ollie (Wines) so to be playing with them for a bit is great. It’s a pretty exciting time with a lot of new kids coming in… and then we bring in Scott (Lycett), Ryan Burton and Sam Mayes and get some excitement out of those guys and the new coaches so there’s a really good feeling around the club at the moment.”
Dougal Howard on his role in the side:
“I’ll train (in defence) all pre-season but if Kenny needs me anywhere else, if I need to pinch hit in the ruck to give someone else a chop-out or go up forward for five minutes, I’ll do that so I need to keep working on those skills to make sure I’m versatile but I’m sure I’ll be playing a lot of my footy down back. Hopefully I won’t be doing too much rucking with Scott (Lycett) and Paddy (Ryder), so hopefully they can be as good a ruck combination as any in the AFL… and hopefully they’re fit and firing and I won’t have to do too much rucking.”
Dougal Howard on working on his intercept marking in the off-season:
“You want to improve your game each year and take it to the next level so it’s probably something I’ll work on going forward. I’ll be getting involved more offensively and working on that intercept side of my game.”
Dougal Howard on who should replace Travis Boak as captain:
"There are plenty of good leaders at our club and plenty of guys who will put their hand up. Boaky's been great and I'm sure they will fill his shoes as good as anyone. There's a number of candidates I'd be happy to have as my captain and run out behind them.”
Dougal Howard on who is doing well in pre-season training so far:
“There’s a couple of young boys who are really training well. Jake Patmore is running the house down, Billy Frampton’s come back in good nick after playing in the AFL in the last round last year so hopefully he can have a good year as well.”
