Thanks Thanks:  2
Likes Likes:  3
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 30
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Wherever the dogs are playing
    Posts
    60,862
    Post Thanks / Like

    'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    LInk here



    DELISTED Bulldog Christian Howard admitted he was haunted by the pressure of being a first-round draft pick throughout his five-year career at the Whitten Oval.


    Howard was a surprise selection at pick No.15 in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft with experts predicting he wouldn't be selected until the third round.

    After just 20 senior games, including two in season 2014, the 23-year-old was cut from the Bulldogs list, just days after being part of Footscray's historic VFL premiership.

    Like several other Bulldogs, Howard said a communication breakdown between himself and ex-coach Brendan McCartney made his final year difficult, but ultimately it was his own inability to handle the pressure of being a first-round draftee that led to his downfall.

    "It still haunts me," Howard told AFL.com.au.

    "I really struggled to deal with the pressure of being a first round pick early on in my career, and to a certain degree even now it still haunts me. I just didn't deal with it well.

    "If I had my time again, I probably would have gone to see a sports psychologist earlier than I did to help me deal with it, even though it wasn't the done thing back then."

    After a string of good performances in the VFL mid-year, Howard was recalled to the senior side in rounds 11 and 12, but after failing to have an impact, the defender was banished back to Footscray for the remainder of the season.

    It was at that point mid-season his relationship with McCartney began to unravel, as the 23-year-old started to come to terms with his fate.

    "When I got back in the team and didn't perform anywhere near how I wanted to, after that I could see the end was coming," Howard said.

    "The writing was definitely on the wall which probably made it a little bit easier because I was able to prepare for it," Howard said.

    "My relationship with [McCartney] was really good in his first couple of years. I used to go into his office and chat to him almost weekly. I'd say it probably broke down a little bit this year, especially in the second half of the year.

    "I was playing well in the VFL but didn't get a look in for the senior team. It got to that point where he had almost done all he could, I just needed to start performing on the field. I wouldn't say the communication broke down completely but it definitely wasn't as strong as it had been."

    Howard still has aspirations of continuing his AFL career, however he conceded it was unlikely with his manager Paul Connors yet to receive any interest from other clubs.

    If he doesn't find himself on an AFL list next year, the young defender has had offers from VFL side Port Melbourne and Glenelg in the SANFL - the club the South Australian was drafted from as an 18-year-old.

    "I would take a rookie spot anywhere but I'm not really holding my breath," Howard said.

    "I'm absolutely stoked with my career. I didn't even really think I'd ever get drafted right up until the year that it happened. I've got no regrets. I gave it my all and really enjoyed my time at the Bulldogs.

    "I definitely want to play state league somewhere. I still want to play at the highest level possible. If I can get a good pre-season behind me and have a good year, I'm still young and anything can happen."
    FFC: Established 1883

    Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    5,229
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    Howard comes across as level headed sort of guy, Just on Macca I think the pressure of AFL coaching may have got the better of him. With Howards comment about their regular chats and how it tapered off. Looks like Macca moved away from one of the reasons he got the job in the first place.

    Just go to show how much support is needed for players and coaches to make it in the big time.
    Don't piss off old people
    The older we get the less "LIFE IN PRISON" is a deterrent...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Bendigo
    Posts
    9,365
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    Quote Originally Posted by Hotdog60 View Post
    Howard comes across as level headed sort of guy, Just on Macca I think the pressure of AFL coaching may have got the better of him. With Howards comment about their regular chats and how it tapered off. Looks like Macca moved away from one of the reasons he got the job in the first place.

    Just go to show how much support is needed for players and coaches to make it in the big time.
    It's a common trend isn't it. Without knowing to much about Jones or Tutt I'd say they would have had the same issues. It seems the coach had just given up on them and left them in the VFL to finish their season. It's disappointing to read and makes me feel it was the right choice in parting ways.

    Anyway good luck to Howard. I was never a fan but he's part of that VFL GF team and he'll always be a Bulldog in my eyes. I wish him nothing but good luck from here on in.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Dogsville
    Posts
    12,738
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    I've never been selected in the first round and I'm sure the pressure existed but it wasn't pressure that kept him out of the senior side it was simply that he was not a good enough footballer and it was Dalrymple's failure in his first that led us to taking him at 15. While Dalrymple has more than made up for it missing out on any of Menzel, Fyfe, Bastinac, Carlisle, Sam Reid and Nathan Vardy is a bitter pill to swallow.
    But then again, I'm an Internet poster and Bevo is a premiership coach so draw your own conclusions.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Wherever the dogs are playing
    Posts
    60,862
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    I like Howard's attitude, he played 20 games for the RWB, something many of us dreamed of when we were kids (well I did), and he is so grateful he got the chance.
    FFC: Established 1883

    Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.

  6. Likes The bulldog tragician liked this post
  7. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Bendigo
    Posts
    9,365
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    Quote Originally Posted by 1eyedog View Post
    I've never been selected in the first round and I'm sure the pressure existed but it wasn't pressure that kept him out of the senior side it was simply that he was not a good enough footballer and it was Dalrymple's failure in his first year that we took him at 15. Dalrymple has more than made up for it but missing out on any of Menzel, Fyfe, Bastinac, Carlisle, Sam Reid and Nathan Vardy is a bitter pill to swallow.
    I don't think anyone would argue that. Talent alone doesn't make great footballers.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Surf Coast
    Posts
    5,462
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    Quote Originally Posted by Hotdog60 View Post
    Howard comes across as level headed sort of guy, Just on Macca I think the pressure of AFL coaching may have got the better of him. With Howards comment about their regular chats and how it tapered off. Looks like Macca moved away from one of the reasons he got the job in the first place.

    Just go to show how much support is needed for players and coaches to make it in the big time.
    This is where the bigger clubs with extra coaches have it over us, with the extra heads their senior coaches have the time freed up for them to spend the time for one on ones.
    Looks like we have addressed it this year with the commitment to extra spending on the coaching department and a couple of more coaching staff.

    "If I had my time again, I probably would have gone to see a sports psychologist earlier than I did to help me deal with it, even though it wasn't the done thing back then."
    I thought sports psychologist had been around for years and it was common for all types of sportsman to see them.
    I know in cricket it has been accepted for years and even 10 or more years back, on a coaching course, we were recommended to read 'The Psychology of Cricket' as part of the course.
    Good luck to Christian in the future.
    It's better to die on our feet than live on our knees.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Doglands
    Posts
    39,484
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    It's food for thought on taking a flyer at a youngster in the first round of the draft when they aren't ready for it.
    Howard didn't follow the elite pathway to the AFL and I think we didn't read how much more difficult that can make it for a player under the scrutiny of being an early pick.

    I hope Howard gets back into one of the state league teams and maybe he gets a chance to get back into the AFL.
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Wherever the dogs are playing
    Posts
    60,862
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    Quote Originally Posted by GVGjr View Post
    It's food for thought on taking a flyer at a youngster in the first round of the draft when they aren't ready for it.
    Howard didn't follow the elite pathway to the AFL and I think we didn't read how much more difficult that can make it for a player under the scrutiny of being an early pick.

    I hope Howard gets back into one of the state league teams and maybe he gets a chance to get back into the AFL.
    Hopefully Tom Boyd doesn't feel the pressure as he is not only a first rounder but has to live up to expectations with the big salary.

    We can only hope the club will manage this properly over the next 7 years.
    FFC: Established 1883

    Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    sydenham
    Posts
    12,590
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    Seeing a psychologist goes way back to the 80s as far as AFL football goes but it all hinges on the player or coaches recognising he needed to see one.
    Malt house had players seeing one when he was coach at the dogs.
    As we know anxiety, depression, expectation are hidden within people it's not like it's out there for all to see.
    Bring back the biff

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Qld.
    Posts
    9,642
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    Quote Originally Posted by ledge View Post
    Seeing a psychologist goes way back to the 80s as far as AFL football goes but it all hinges on the player or coaches recognising he needed to see one.
    Malt house had players seeing one when he was coach at the dogs.
    As we know anxiety, depression, expectation are hidden within people it's not like it's out there for all to see.
    Yes I think one of the first ones was Rudi Webster who worked at Richmond.

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    1,830
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    Quote Originally Posted by bornadog View Post
    I like Howard's attitude, he played 20 games for the RWB, something many of us dreamed of when we were kids (well I did), and he is so grateful he got the chance.
    Well said. Christian Howard is not the first and won't be the last high draft pick to not make the grade. He wore our colours, did his best, yes we wish it had worked out both for us and him, but honestly with the high rates of depression in young men, I hope Christian stays well away from the ugly vitriol that gets posted about him (not here).
    www.bulldogtragician.com A blog about being a lifelong fan of the Dogs and our quixotic attempt to replicate 1954. AND WE DID
    Author of "The Mighty West: the Bulldogs journey from daydream believers to premiership heroes"
    Twitter @bulldogstragic

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    10,040
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    Quote Originally Posted by bornadog View Post
    Hopefully Tom Boyd doesn't feel the pressure as he is not only a first rounder but has to live up to expectations with the big salary.

    We can only hope the club will manage this properly over the next 7 years.
    Boyd went through the elite pathway, and not only that, he was the elite in the elite pathway. I think he will thrive on the pressure of expectation.

    Howard sounds like a well-rounded person in life away from competitive sport. But he also sounds like he lacked the absolute hunger and mental application to be the best AFL player he can be. That's not a knock on him as a person - some are simply more driven than others in this area.

  15. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    3,930
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    We got the pick wrong, we reflect on it, and move on - we probably should have done it sooner, but we gave Christian every chance, and he was handy in a VFL premiership that we all enjoyed winning.

    We wish him all the best

  16. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Doglands
    Posts
    39,484
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: 'It still haunts me', delisted Dog Christian Howard couldn't handle the pressure

    I've mentioned this a few times before but at the start of the 2014 season Howard's career performances wasn't that much different to Easton Wood's but I've never really heard any pressure being applied to Wood whereas Howard had questions being raised about his ability from day one. This is the price the player pays when they haven't come through the elite pathway but have the added burden of being a surprise first round selection.

    Neither player came through the elite pathway but one of them never faced the same level of scrutiny than the other did not by a long shot.

    When you don't come through the elite pathway but are taken in the 3rd round of a draft the fans and media give you a lot more attitude. I wonder what might have been for Howard had he arrived at the club as a 3rd round selection rather than a 1st round pick.
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •