The 2020 Milestone Man - Alex Howard

It’s your first league game. You’ve grown up barracking for Swan Districts your whole life and now is your chance to prove that you deserve to pull on the black and white jumper. You take to the field and walk to your position at Centre Half-back. As you make your way there, you look up to see who will be your first league match-up, only to notice that it is a former AFL player and fourth pick in what is now infamously referred to as the 2001 AFL Super Draft, Graham Polak.

This is what faced Alex Howard in his debut game back in 2011.

Now going into his tenth season at the club, Alex sits just one game short of reaching a milestone that most players aspire to reach… 150 Games and Life Membership at the Swan Districts Football Club.

As if finishing last season just one game short of this tremendous honour wasn’t a long enough wait for the key defender, he now faces an unknown return date resulting from the forced lockdown due to the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic.

Always the optimist, Alex says the extended break was probably best for him, after offseason hip surgery had him as a 50/50 chance for the first game of the season.

‘It’s given me a little extra time, so I don’t have to rush anything’ he said.

‘I was going to be touch and go for Round 1, but now I’ll be ready to go straight away when the season starts up again.’

Recruited from Swan View as a Centre Half-back, he made an instant impact at League level, taking home the Rookie of the Year Award in 2011. He was also invited to attend the AFL National Draft Combine that same year.

‘It was awesome to receive the Rookie of the Year’ he recalls.

‘Especially when you see the guys that have won it before you. It was a privilege to get that, even though I wasn’t actually able to be there on the night, because we had the Draft Combine.’

Averaging over 12 disposals a game, Howard has cemented his place as a mainstay in the backline, with his powerful spoiling and strong overhead mark.

Teaming up with fellow key-position defender, Tony Notte, the two talls make a formidable force across the Swans defensive half, but Howard is quick to acknowledge the guidance of past players Tallan Ames and Justin Simpson in his ongoing success.

‘We have always looked at our backline as one of the strongest in the competition’ he said.

‘Ames and Simpson made it easier for me, especially to slot in at a younger age.

‘They were incredible mentors for me, especially in my first 2 to 3 years in the League side.’

Turning 27 this year, Alex’s strong leadership in and around the club saw him receive the 2019 Jack Hickling Memorial Award as the Most Outstanding Player, on and off field.

‘It meant a lot, especially because it was voted on by the staff and everyone else who have been at the club for a long time.

‘The amount of work they do for us players, for them to recognise me in that way was amazing.’

Looking forward to his first game back for the season, and incredible milestone, Alex says it is an honour to be able to receive Life Membership at a club he holds dear to his heart.

‘It’s been a privilege to play for the Swans and to get to 150 games I see as quite an achievement’, he says.

‘Once you’ve been there for a few years and you meet the supporters, you realise just how much that means to them also. They get around you so much.

‘With the ex-players and Life Members still coming back to the club, you see just how much this club means to everyone. Especially in the way that the legends of Swans present players with the jumper for their first game, I think that is one of the best traditions going around.

‘I’ve really taken that on-board and the club means everything to me now too.

‘Ever since I started, I just wanted to play as many games as possible for the club. To gain Life Membership at Swan Districts means everything to me.’

Make sure you are there to support Alex in his 150th game when the 2020 Optus WAFL Premiership Season kicks off after the lockdown.