PATIENCE and persistence.

The mantra rolls off the tongue easily enough but for young footballers trying to break through as regular AFL players, the gap between theory and practice is often too wide to straddle.

So it would be understandable if young St Kilda midfielder Brad Howard was growing a little discouraged while he waits for another chance to pull on the black, red and white jumper of the senior side.

But the 20-year-old Howard, who has not featured for the Saints this year after managing two matches in 2007, is keeping faith in the dual virtues of patience and persistence, and trying to make every appearance at VFL level count towards improving him as a player.

"No, definitely not," he told saints.com.au when asked if he was feeling frustrated by his predicament.

"The couple of games last year I got through circumstance and a lot of injuries ... and this year we've had a lot better run with that.

"I've been happy the way my game's coming along ... I've improved in a lot of areas and feel I'm a lot better player than I was last year."

The areas Howard has been focusing on are those many young players struggle with as they adjust to the pace and intensity of top level footy.

"I think decision-making is a big one," said Howard.

"It's a problem with a lot of younger kids coming in. With the game being a lot quicker and a lot harder, you've got to make good decisions and you've got to make fast decisions, so my decision-making has improved and reading the play has improved as well."

The pacy onballer has combined boxing and swimming with skills training as he puts in extra hours to build up his body as well as his footballing attributes.

And he admits that seeing other young players such as Robert Eddy cracking AFL games has acted as a spur.

"There's a good group of us last year who came through," he said. "Obviously Jarryn Geary, David Armitage and Jarryd Allen are all playing as well. We've all been pretty similar along the way, and even though we're good mates we're all pretty competitive as well."

That competitive spirit means Howard is still hoping to push for senior selection this year, although he says his main goal remains self-improvement.

"I'd like to continue getting better and hopefully toward next year start to press for a few more games, and look to try and hold down a spot."

Howard is one of a number of Saints to hail from Queensland – he was drafted from Brisbane club Redlands in 2006 – but he says his family roots in Victoria have always kept AFL close to his heart, even if the passion (from a St Kilda point of view at least) is a little misdirected.

"I was actually a Carlton supporter as a kid, so I was always a big fan of Anthony Koutoufides," he said.

"But even so, Robert Harvey's the man. It doesn't matter who you support, he's always respected. It's been an absolute privilege to see how he goes about it and to play a couple of games with him."

And if patience and persistence pays off, Howard may have the opportunity to share a few more games with the Saints champion.