John Howat is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with Melbourne

Melbourne Football Club

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

 and Richmond

Richmond Football Club

The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

 in the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (AFL).

A tall utility player, Howat was used on both ends of the ground during his league career, which began in 1989. In his four seasons with Melbourne he never played more than six games in a season.

He was picked up by Richmond with the 97th selection of the 1992 AFL Draft

1992 AFL Draft

The 1992 AFL Draft is the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League...

, where he rejoined with his previous coach John Northey

John Northey

John "Swooper" Northey is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played from 1963 to 1970 with the Richmond Football Club....

. In just his second game for his new club, against the Brisbane Bears

Brisbane Bears

The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...

, Howat had 25 disposals and earned three Brownlow Medal votes for his efforts. Unlike at Melbourne, Howat was able to establish a regular place in the team and missed just three games in his debut season. He added another 17 games in 1994 and although he played just four times the following year, he appeared in Richmond's preliminary final loss.

Howat was delisted after the 1996 season and went on to coach Mitcham in the Eastern Football League

Eastern Football League (Australia)

The Eastern Football League is an Australian rules football League, based in the eastern suburbs of metropolitan Melbourne....

, in 1999 and 2000.