BRIAN HOWARD HAS played down the half-time brawl between Dublin and Tyrone during last Saturday’s league game in Omagh.
Fists were flying when players and backroom team members from both sides clashed, making for ugly scenes as they headed down the tunnel.
It was difficult to identify who exactly was involved from the TV footage. Padraig Hampsey’s black card before the start of the second-half was the only punishment handed out by referee Cormac Reilly.
“Thankfully I wasn’t involved,” Howard told The42. “I was already in the dressing room at the time. So I don’t actually know what went on. I haven’t even looked at it back.
“There wasn’t much chat about it in the dressing room because at half-time we needed to put the first-half behind us, take the positives and work on the negatives for the second-half.
“So we were talking about that and then after the game we obviously weren’t happy with the performance or the result. We were more focused on that rather than anything else.”
Howard rejected the idea that the tight confines of the Healy Park tunnel led to the melee.
“There hasn’t been an issue, especially when I’ve been playing. Stuff like that doesn’t happen regularly so I wouldn’t say it’s a huge issue.”
A little over two years into his Dublin career, Howard is firmly established as one of the leading lights in the team. Along with Brian Fenton, Ciaran Kilkenny and James McCarthy, they make the All-Ireland champions tick and dictate the tempo from the middle third.
Dessie Farrell is clearly a fan of the Raheny clubman’s versatility, having used him at half-forward, midfield and half-back so far this season.
“I think that’s extremely important for any player now that you have to be adaptable,” said Howard.
“Whether it’s wing-forward, wing-back or midfield, with the new rules and players going off you might have to sit into different positions for a period of the game. You have to be fluid and need to be able to play in different positions.”
It’s striking how quickly Howard took to senior inter-county football after being handed his chance by Jim Gavin, similar to clubmate Fenton.
Fenton arrived on the scene in 2015. At 27, he has yet to lose a championship game for Dublin. He’s the owner of five Celtic Crosses, four All-Stars and the 2018 Footballer of the Year prize.
Howard is four years Fenton’s junior. He didn’t make his debut until 2018, but has won an All-Star and All-Ireland in each of his first two full seasons.
“I had lads I was close to, the likes of Brian Fenton from my club. He told me what was expected. It’s obviously a big deal coming into such a successful team.
“I used to be going to all the matches,” he recalled. “I know watching in 2011 from the Davin Stand, I said to my dad, ‘I want to be there.’ He always had faith in me that I was going to be representing Dublin and wear the jersey. How many games, he obviously didn’t know but it was something I always wanted to do. I know I didn’t want to stop until I did.
“When I got the opportunity, then you just get hungrier for other things. You want to make sure that jersey is never taken away from you so you’ve to develop and get better and better. You can’t rest on your laurels.”
His progress was quick. Six years after Stephen Cluxton kicked the winner in 2011, Diarmuid Connolly was name-checking him as one to watch during an interview.
“I remember people saying it to me, ‘Oh Diarmuid Connolly was talking about you’,” laughed Howard.
“Diarmuid Connolly was someone that I admired and looked up to, along with a lot of other players. But he was someone that was regarded as one of the best footballers to ever play the game.
“Hearing someone like that saying something positive about you was extremely helpful for me and gave me another boost of confidence to go on. The following year thankfully I got the opportunity from Jim and kept building and building and had a good year that year.
“I joined the squad at the end of 2017, during that championship. I came in after the U21 success. Going into the dressing room it was obviously daunting at first when they were so successful and going for three-in-a-row that year.
“It was something I always wanted to be a part of and get the opportunity. It was daunting but they welcomed me with open arms and made me feel confident and comfortable off the pitch, which correlated on the pitch and made it easier for me to perform when you’re comfortable off it.”
Howard praised Gavin’s man-management in nurturing his talent when he first joined the squad.
“The one-to-one chats were very big for me to develop. He just told me the stuff I needed to work on and things I did well. He kept reiterating the points of the stuff I was doing well because that’s why I got to this stage.
“Kept building me up, building me up, building my confidence up and that correlated onto the pitch.
“When you’re performing well it’s obviously a lot easier but when you’re not performing well then it was just communication of them saying, ‘Keep working on this or that. It will come, it will come.’ And when the opportunity does come you put the wrongs right.”
Gavin and Farrell are the two managers he’s worked with most since he first starting playing with Dublin at underage level, so it’s little surprise he’s developed into one of the best players in the country.
And Howard says the transition from the former to the latter has been seamless, because it’s a player-driven environment. It’s a phrase we often hear in reference to the Dubs, but what does ‘player-driven’ actually mean?
“Player-driven, and I presume all the other counties are the exact same, (means that) it’s completely up to the players on an individual level and collective level. The managers are there to facilitate.
“But if the players aren’t driving the standards then it’s going to be very difficult for a manager. They implement the gameplans and stuff like that but it’s up to you to manage yourselves in terms of off the pitch and on the pitch.
“If it’s player-driven it’s going to be easier for any manager to come in. I know from talking to Dessie he’s enjoying his experience so far and that it helps when the players are so driven as well.”
Fenton revealed a couple of weeks ago that Tadhg Kennelly once contacted him over an AFL trial and Howard said there was an option for him to go that route if he so desired.
“That opportunity potentially was there if you wanted,” he stated.
“It was something that you would love to experience but it would be a big commitment going to the other side of the world. My heart lied in Gaelic and it wasn’t something I was going to throw away for anything really.
“Gaelic was what I wanted. Obviously it would be nice to experience the sunshine and that type of lifestyle but no, I’m happy where I am now.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
