CLARITY of purpose, development of self.

Few are better placed to nurture a new generation of developing leaders at IKON Park than Belinda Clark. 

The former Australian cricket captain, who is regarded as one of the great players and leaders in sport, will take on a role as Leadership Consultant for Carlton’s AFLW team in 2023.

Clark isn’t unknown to those at IKON Park, having worked with the leaders at the back-end of last season. However, she’ll now be a regular part of the furniture on Royal Parade, working with Carlton’s six-person leadership group that was announced earlier this week.

When it comes to the Club’s commitment to leadership and high performance, Clark believes the formalisation of the role is a significant step to achieving exactly that.

“Last year was a late introduction to the program, and it was great to understand what they were trying to work on. This year, we’ll get a much better run at the pre-season and work really closely with the coaching staff to extract the best out of this leadership group,” Clark told Carlton Media.

“It’s trying to help the players understand what their role is as part of the leadership group and facilitate their learning, so they’re taking these opportunities the leadership group is providing for them. It’s making sure they’re extracting everything out of it they possibly can.

“It’s part learning as an individual, and it’s part knowing what the team requires.”

Clark’s sporting CV is as impressive as it gets, as a member of the Sport Australia, Australian Cricket and the ICC Cricket Hall of Fames.

However, she knows as much as anyone the benefit in getting the best out of not only yourself, but those around you. Clark led her country to two Ashes and two World Cup wins in her time as captain.

In Kerryn Peterson, Clark sees someone whose commitment to herself and the wider team is clear.

“She’s an impressive human being and a great athlete. She wants to do well, she wants to help the whole group as well: she’s been a delight to work with and I’m looking forward to picking that up and working with her again,” she said.

“With new staff and really clear ideas of what they want to get out of the year, having a strong player leadership group is really important to making sure they get the best out of themselves and their teammates.

“I’m looking forward to working with the staff here and hopefully combining the efforts of the staff and the player leaders to create some really good stuff.”