At a glance:

  • Dougal Howard says sharpened competitive edge at training and finding comfort in being uncomfortable has St Kilda on track to bounce back strong in 2022.
  • The co-vice-captain says the theme of "learning to hurt" has been just as pertinent as the Saints look to improve upon last year's 10th-placed finish.
  • Howard is feeling the best he has after several pre-seasons following a knee operation in the off-season.
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A sharpened competitive edge at training and finding comfort in being uncomfortable has St Kilda on track to bounce back strong in 2022, says co-vice-captain Dougal Howard.  

The re-elected leader has been front and centre in raising the bar this pre-season, with the renewed intensity on the training track helping address key facets which were tested in 2021.

St Kilda’s competitiveness and execution under strain last season – particularly in the tail-end of games – came under the microscope on several occasions, with final-quarter stumbles against Geelong, Sydney and Adelaide culminating in ultimately costly losses.

The theme of “learning to hurt” has been just as big of a pre-season staple less than 50 days out from Round 1. The Saints have been physically pushed to their limits under the instruction of new Head of High Performance and Conditioning Nick Walsh, whose pre-season repertoire has entailed early morning beach swims, demanding boxing sessions and an abundance of running as part of the club’s refreshed training regimen.

"I guess just our professional standards, it's one of our pillars that we want to uphold and there's certain standards under that in our environment every day that we want to keep to," Howard told the Sounds of the Saints podcast.

"There's been full buy-in from the group in terms of the way people have presented themselves back from off-season and recovery and rehab and all those sort of things off-field that are translating to training at the moment.

The competitive side, which has been brought into training and the new drills, the competitive edge we want people to have, we're training it so that it becomes a habit, then come games and come crunch-time we're in that right frame of mind.

- Dougal Howard

"Competitiveness is 90 per cent above the ears, it's all mental. Learning to hurt and being comfortable being uncomfortable we've heard about a lot, so we really want to be better in that space. I think we've implemented the right things this pre-season to be better there."

Howard has been a strong presence on the training track in the new year, with the key defender going toe-to-toe with Max King in last Friday’s match simulation to good effect.

A knee operation in the off-season to clean out a few issues which were causing “a bit of grief” towards the end of last year now has the full back feeling the best he has in some time.

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'The competitive edge we want': Howard joins Sounds of the Saints

Dougal Howard joins the Sounds of the Saints podcast to talk pre-season, leadership and bouncing back in 2022. Listen to the full podcast on saints.com.au or on Spotify.

"I’ve really had a big pre-season working on my rehab for the first little bit, and now back into full training, I’m feeling probably the best I have for a couple of pre-seasons," Howard said.

"It’s getting me really excited for these games now knowing that my body is in great condition.

"The things I’ve focussed on, yes, has been the rehab, but also be stepping again in the leadership space.

"We’ve got a young group and it’s our time now to step up and lead these boys in the right direction and hopefully take this club to where we want to go."

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