The Manawatu loose forward has traded the Hurricanes for the Highlanders in a bid to ignite his Super Rugby career and, fingers crossed, play his way into an All Blacks jersey.
Attending Feilding High School — home of the greatest Highlander of all, Aaron Smith — is not Howden’s only link to the southern club.
His mother now lives in Alexandra, while his older brother is Lee Allan, the former Highlanders and Otago loose forward.
"I remember when I was in year 9 at school, and I heard I had a brother who was in the Highlanders, but I’d never met him at that stage," Howden said yesterday.
"I just thought, ‘cool, yeah, I’d be keen to play for the Highlanders’."
Howden, 23, pointed out other Feilding products like Jona Nareki, Vilimoni Koroi, Mosese Dawai and Luke Whitelock had also been seen in Highlanders colours.
After playing for Manawatu straight out of school, Howden spent three years with the Hurricanes without ever really nailing down a spot.
"I’ve just been battling away. They’ve got a real stacked loose forward trio so I thought I would come down here and try to have a real good shot.
"I’ve got family down here so it sort of seems right to come and try my luck with the Highlanders.
"I’ve been loving it down here. I was talking to this lady in the mall and she was saying it’s sort of like a village culture down here. Everyone knows everything. It sort of feels similar to Feilding."
If life had turned out differently, Howden would be in a shearing shed today and not sweating through another rugby drill with the Highlanders.
He lived in a small Western Australian town, Moora, from the ages of 2 to 8 when his parents worked in the woolsheds, and gravitated to a handpiece himself when he was a teenager in Feilding.
"I used to hack at a bit of wool. I wasn’t too flash but I had a go.
"Mum always told me I had to get a job in the summers. So I started on the broom, then got a bit stronger and jumped on the press, and then I learned how to shear.
"I loved it, eh. I loved shearing.
Opting for rugby was not the worst choice.
Howden was in the New Zealand under-20 squad three years ago before making his Super Rugby debut, he was named Manawatu player of the year recently, and he has four caps for the Maori All Blacks.
As has often been the case in the past, the decision to move to the Highlanders was finalised after a chat to the club’s figurehead and returning coach, Jamie Joseph.
"It was just one phone call. He just said he was real keen to have me.
"We get along real well, and I’m really enjoying the way he’s coaching and his mindset. He has real high standards, which I like."
Howden thinks of himself as a specialist blindside but he played a bit of lock in his younger days and is aware he might spend some time in the Highlanders’ second row.
"Jamie wants a fast, versatile team. If I have to push to lock, so be it. I’m down here to just to be on the rugby field and playing good footy."
Rugby might be his craft but Howden will very much be a basketball fan this weekend.
His partner, Alana Paewai, is a point guard for the Tokomanawa Queens, who are in the Tauihi playoffs.
"She’s excited to come down. After New Year, she’s making the move to Dunedin, which is really cool because she has to sacrifice a lot to come down and start a new life."
Howden is a keen golfer and is looking forward to exploring some of the courses in the South.
The TK stands for Te Kamaka, which translates to "the rock".
"My old man used to say it means a bit more than that — like its’s the land that I’m from.
"When we lived in Australia, they butchered the name all the time, so I just gradually went to TK."
