BREAKING a finals drought was nice, but Dougal Howard says St Kilda has made a pact to challenge the heavyweights of the AFL this year.
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Wagga product Howard was one of the recruiting success stories of the year, cementing a spot in the Saints' defence after being told by former club Port Adelaide they felt his future lay up forward.
The 24-year-old proved them wrong with a superb second season at Moorabbin, which was rewarded with a third-place finish in the club's best and fairest.
After making finals for the first time since 2012 last year, St Kilda accounted for the Bulldogs in the elimination finals before they were beaten by 31-points by eventual premiers Richmond in week two.
"Our goal is to be there again and like anyone who played finals last year, is get to a grand final and win it," Howard said.
"A lot of work has to go into that, but we're focused on a big season and improving.
"We've spoken over the last week that we only just made finals, we didn't really do anything and have still got a lot of work to do to have success.
"It was my first year here, but as a club we made big steps forward. Everyone's very positive and optimistic about the future, and what we can do.
"We spoke about that (Richmond) game, that we had a few chances we didn't take and they started pretty well. It will be a good game to reflect on and find some lessons so we can be better."
Howard's stellar year was recognised in the Trevor Barker Award,, where he polled 122 votes to finish behind only fellow recruit Dan Butler (126) and runaway winner Jack Steele (207).
"It was a bit of a shock, but it was nice to be recognised like that," he said.
"It's not really about that stuff, but it's certainly nice to come over to a new club and play some OK footy."
Howard said the transition was made easier by being able to focus on playing just the one position.
"I'll be staying down the back-line this year, we've got a pretty exciting forward line now and (draftee) Matt Allison will give us even more depth there," he said.
"It was good to settle in, have a pretty good year and not have any injuries."
"The exciting part is the back-line has some young guys with big futures and we've only just scratched the surface."
St Kilda haven't been as aggressive in the player market this year, but have lured quality in former Richmond goalsneak Jack Higgins, Hawthorn veteran James Frawley and Adelaide ball magnet Brad Crouch.
Howard said being in the AFL bubble on the Sunshine Coast was testing, but helped him bond quicker with his new teammates.
"If anything it fast tracked relationships which made it easy to transition over," he said.
"It was pretty different being away from friends and family, that isolation from it all. But there's people in a lot worse situations than we were, and it wasn't that bad to be honest.
"Hopefully those new guys can come in and make an immediate impact for us."
St Kilda begins their season with an away clash against Greater Western Sydney Giants on Sunday, March 21.
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