Howard's dreams keep coming true with Swan DistrictsFriday, July 17, 2020 - 2:54 PM - by Chris Pike

IT'S hard to imagine there have been too many more consistent and reliable defenders in the rich history of Swan Districts than Alex Howard, but the fact that he grew up dreaming of playing for Swans and that it means so much to his family suggests life membership trumps that.

By the time Howard got into his early teenage years, he started to follow Swan Districts closely thanks to those special colts teams given the likes of Tony Notte, Michael Walters, Nic Naitanui, Chris Yarran, David Ellard and Alex Rance were all friends with his older brother.

What that did, though, was create a lifetime love of the Swan Districts Football Club for Howard. He might have arrived at Steel Blue Oval or all the other WAFL grounds for the colts, but he would stay with his father until the league game.

That has been a tradition that started with him being a fan and now has continued with him going on to play through the ranks at Swans, earn a league debut and it's been pretty much a non-stop ride ever since with him being the rock of the black-and-whites defence over his 149 games.

His family have continued to support him and Swan Districts all the way through and now the ever-reliable defender and outstanding servant will celebrate his 150th game for the club to earn life membership as the WAFL season gets underway this Saturday against West Perth at Steel Blue Oval.

With how much Swan Districts means to him and his family, and knowing how passionate the Swans supporter base is all adds up to making the milestone occasion something that means the world to Howard.

"The club is everything to me. Being there every single day, we have supporters rocking up to training sessions and you see what it means to so many people, and it just makes everything better," Howard said. 

"They get around all us players but especially the local boys so to experience that every session of week makes it a pretty special place to play your footy.

"It's a massive honour. Growing up in the area, I was always going to watch Swans play and I got to see some of the guys that have become part of that life membership club in the past and got to play with them. 

"It's just a massive honour and I even got stopped coming into training on Thursday night by Shane Beros and he talked about how much life membership even means to him. So talking about that is surreal and it's just a massive honour. 

"To be part of that life membership club and to get to this milestone is something I see as a massive achievement in my football career so far."

From the moment Howard first came down to watch those colts team play at Steel Blue Oval and beyond he started to dream of actually playing with Swan Districts himself.

He first got the taste of that in development squads, he graduated to colts and then from the moment he made his league debut in 2011 as a teenager that he immediately showed what he was capable of both as a lockdown defender and intercept marking player who could also set up play.

But it's not often dreams come true so the fact that Howard went through his teenage years dreaming of playing WAFL football with Swan Districts, and the fact he's now about to earn life membership is something special.

"It just started out of knowing a few of the players at the club already. The group around Tony Notte's age were friends with my brother so I knew them when I was younger, and would go down to watch them play colts," Howard said. 

"That was a pretty special team obviously with Tony, Dave Ellard, Naitanui, Rance, Walters and all them boys. So just by going to watch that, it turned out into every single weekend being there from nine o'clock until five o'clock with my dad watching all three grades play. 

"That was our Saturdays every week during the football season probably from the time I was about 14 onwards. I also started playing development squads and then I just dreamed of getting out there to play on the Saturday one day."

The family tradition of the Howards still turning out for a full day of watching Swan Districts play every weekend has continued too, it's just that they might now be a bit more recognised with a son who is such a star in the black-and-white.

"They still don’t miss a game. Every single week, they tell me afterwards they get supporters coming up to them and talking about me and what I'm doing on the field so they just love it," he said.

"They always tell me that as long as I keep enjoying playing my footy at Swans, that they will be there to enjoy it as well and keep coming to all the games."

The break from Howard playing game 149 to 150 has been quite the wait too and certainly not one he had planned on when Swans' season finished in disappointing fashion in a loss to Claremont going back to Round 20 last year.

Howard was racing the clock to be fit for the initial Round 1 of this season after off-season hip surgery, but now with COVID-19 forcing that opening to the action to be delayed until this Saturday has meant good things for the health and fitness he's been able to muster.

In fact, being pain-free in his hip and having strung together a good block of training might actually mean Howard is entering the 2020 season in the best shape he's been in for some years.

"It's a massive relief to finally get here, it did feel like it was never coming for a while. From my perspective, though, there was a positive because I had surgery in the off-season and I started rushing my rehab the last couple of months so I'd be ready for Round 1," Howard said.

"So Corona might have been a bit of a blessing in disguise for myself in terms of my footy to give my body that bit of extra time to heal up and at least I can go into Round 1 knowing I'll be in the best shape I've been in for a few years, and pain free. 

"It wasn’t fun playing with that pain and now that I don’t have it then it's a big weight off my shoulders. I had my hip down, I had a bit of a clean out and I had it done five years ago as well but it came back again so I had to go through that again."

As luck would have it, it's a big occasion for Howard to celebrate his 150th game too. Not only is it a positive that it will be at home at Steel Blue Oval, but the delayed start to the WAFL season should create great excitement at the ground and draw a sizeable crowd too.

In the bigger picture, there's a great sense of excitement over how significantly Swans can improve in 2020 as well.

"We are expecting a pretty good sized crowd, largely than we usually get anyway, and we think over the last few years we've built up a pretty good rivalry with West Perth so it's always good fun going against them," he said.

"I think we match up really well too so they always end up being pretty good games. And just being back at home makes it that extra bit special and hopefully we can go out there and get the win on Saturday.

"The feeling around the group is incredible at the moment and all the boys who've come in have all brought something different. That's given us a bit more youth and speed on the outside as well as a bit more grunt on the inside with some more of the Victorian boys who have come other. 

"We think it's balanced the team out really good now and we are pretty happy with our preparation for the season even though it's hard to know what you'll be like going into Round 1. Last week was our first sort of half test and we looked pretty good for most of the game so hopefully we can back it up this week and put a whole game together."

The one thing that is going to determine how much further beyond 150 games Howard can play is his body, but right now the signs are good for the 27-year-old. But the one thing providing the ultimate motivation is trying to emulate those heroes of 2010 by winning a premiership with Swan Districts.

"The body hasn’t always been the best over the years but it always seems to be that I've timed my injuries or operations for the off-season," Howard said.

"There's a bit of a joke at the club that I've only done three or four pre-seasons my whole career and even this year I didn’t start training until March with the main group. 

"It's a bit of a joke that I seem to get back for the last week of training and come in to play, but the body is feeling good now and hopefully it can hold up for at least three or four more years.

"Winning a premiership is the ultimate goal. Having come up with some of the guys who played in that 2010 premiership and staying in touch with some of those boys, they still talk about it now. 

"The fact they have those memories 10 years on now is pretty incredible and they are all such a tight group and the bond you have from winning a premiership is incredible. That's the ultimate thing you want from a team sport and that's what I want more than anything."