Christian Howard Biography

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

"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," Howard said.

"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."

Christian Howard, Brett Goodes and Tom Young are delisted by the Western Bulldogs.

"Although difficult, these decisions are always made with the club's future as the primary focus," said Bulldogs list manager Jason McCartney

"We thank the players sincerely for the contribution they've made to our football Club and wish them the best for the future."

The Western Bulldogs have moved to secure their list by signing youngsters Christian Howard and Fletcher Roberts to new contracts.

"We see him as an emerging key position player whether it be back or forward," Bulldogs list manger Jason McCartney said about Roberts.

Christian Howard says he will go without a 21st birthday party to focus on making the Bulldogs' team in their 2012 season opener.

"I was tossing up whether to have a 21st [party] or not, but I've decided not to," he said.

"It's too big an event to have just before round one. It's about priorities, and it's just one of those sacrifices you make along the way that hopefully helps you get where you want to be."

Western Bulldogs youngsters Luke Dahlhaus, Matthew Panos, Liam Jones, Christian Howard, Dylan Addison and Lukas Markovic all sign contract extensions with the club.

"This is an extremely positive outcome for our club and completes the re-signings of our remaining players, including the upgrade of two emerging talents off the rookie list," Bulldogs general manager of football James Fantasia said.

Christian Howard makes his AFL debut for the Western Bulldogs at Docklands Stadium with 11 disposals (9 kicks and 2 handballs), 3 marks and 2 tackles in a 29-point loss to Hawthorn.

Western Bulldog Christian Howard concedes his other hip may need similar surgery to that which derailed his 2010 season.

"There was a bit of bone where your hip sits and there was too much. It was catching and not moving properly," Howard said.

"They shaved that off. I've got the same problem in my other hip but it's not as bad. I'll probably have to get it done eventually, but at the moment it's not a problem."

Christian Howard has been placed on the long-term injury list and will not play until at least round four of the 2010 season after having surgery on a hip impingement in late December.

"He can start running next week and then there will be a few weeks of rehab running," Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said.

"Then he'll have to go through a mini pre-season. That's going to take time. He'll be eight to 10 weeks away before he's able to play.

"Everything is going well from the surgery. It was a fairly invasive surgery that he had and we wanted to get it right."

The Western Bulldogs' first round draft pick Christian Howard is yet to start running as he recovers from hip surgery.

"He's a chance to play early on in the season, but we have to make sure we do the right thing by the kid and make sure that he gets enough fitness into his body before we'll expose him to games of footy," Bulldogs assistant coach Paul Williams said.

"You can't expect a kid who hasn't had a proper pre-season to come and play AFL straight away, so he will do what all kids have to do, which is demand their spot, train hard and play well and make us pick him."

The Western Bulldogs' first draft selection, Christian Howard, will undergo hip surgery and be unavailable for the NAB Cup.

"It's a light thing. We were across that prior to drafting him," general manager of football James Fantasia said.

"We're going to do it pre-Christmas so it gives him some good recovery time.

"We picked it up early through our screenings and it was always on the cards."

Western Bulldogs coach says Christian Howard was the best player available at No. 15 in the 2009 NAB AFL draft.

"We had 12 or 13 players that we thought were the best players in the draft and they'd all gone, so really he was our next player on our list," Eade said.

"He fits the profile of what we wanted -- a guy that can run and kick and set the play up. He ticked a lot of boxes, so we're certainly very pleased to take him at that level."

Christian Howard was as surprised as everyone else was to be selected with the Bulldogs' pick 15 in the 2009 national draft after not having been rated by anyone as being a first round pick.

"I think most of the country was pretty surprised I went at pick No.15," Howard said.

"I just sat there in disbelief for about five minutes. I couldn't move. My family was going nuts and I just couldn't believe it."