Verdun Howell was marked out as a potentially great player from the age of 15 when VFL scouts first noticed him playing for . St.Kilda signed him at the age of 17 but he refused to leave Tasmania and a clearance wrangle delayed his start in 1958. He was a dashing attacking fullback whose style was way ahead of his time. He had mainly played as a half forward in Tasmania for City in Launceston but had shown promise at half back in 1957 and coach Alan Killigrew used him in the problem spot of fullback for his six games that season. In 1959 he was an instant star and made the State side for the first of many times.
	He grabbed the headlines that season when he went AWOL from the army to play for the Saints against Fitzroy. He was a superb kick but his marking capture the public's imagination after many highlights were made available by photographers of the day. He went on to win the Saints best and Fairest award at seasons end and inadvertently ended up becoming a part of St.Kilda folklore due his narrow loss in the Brownlow medal count for 1959.
Verdun Howell is pictured third from the left in the front row.	Verdun Howell tied with South Melbourne's Bob Skilton on 20 votes but Skilton won the medal on a countback. It became part of the Saints folklore that if he hadn't have played in the centre in the final game he would have won outright. Thirty years later the VFL retrospectively awarded him a Brownlow medal. He became first choice fullback for the Saints selectors until 1965 when he was swapped with full forward Bob Murray. His natural skills meant he made an easy conversion to the new position kicking nine goals in a game against Hawthorn that year.
	He was vice captain to Darrel Baldock for six seasons and almost missed out on the 1966 premiership due to a broken jaw sustained in a round 13 match against Carlton at Princes Park. But he ended up playing on a halfback flank in St.Kildas last premiership.