Wagga footballer Dougal Howard will be at St Kilda next season.
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Howard's desire to seek a fresh start at St Kilda was granted on Tuesday when he and Paddy Ryder were traded by Port Adelaide to the Saints.
The deal involved St Kilda's two first round draft picks, selections 12 and 18, going to Port Adelaide in exchange for Howard, Ryder and the Power's number 10 draft pick.
The two clubs also traded future third and fourth round selections.
The deal, struck just a day out from the trade period deadline, means Howard will continue his AFL career next season at St Kilda with a five-year contract under new coach Brett Ratten.
"It's a great time to be joining the Saints," Howard told St Kilda's website.
"They have a lot of talented young players coming through together, and I'm looking forward to being a part of that.
"I loved my time at Port Adelaide, but I'm looking forward to the next stage of my career."
St Kilda head of list management James Gallagher believes Howard will be a key figure at the Saints for years to come.
"Dougal is a serious talent and it's exciting to bring in a player of his quality," Gallagher told the Saints website.
"He has already proved he can mix it with the best as both a key defender and a forward, but we see him as player who is only going to get better
"He has great agility and speed for a guy of that size, and he's also a young leader - we expect to continue to develop that facet of his game under the likes of Jarryd Roughead and Billy Slater."
The trade completes a rollercoaster of a season for Howard.
The 23-year-old enjoyed his best AFL season to date last year and signed a three-year contract extension at Port Adelaide last December.
He captained Port Adelaide for the first time early this season before he found himself dropped and finishing the year in the SANFL after a failed experiment as a forward.
It prompted Port Adelaide to encourage Howard to explore his options elsewhere, which led to St Kilda, North Melbourne and Essendon all pursuing the key defender.
Howard nominated St Kilda as his preferred destination last week and the two clubs ultimately got the deal done.
Howard leaves Port Adelaide after five seasons and 43 AFL games after being picked up by the Power with selection 56 in the 2014 draft.
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