General Peter Cosgrove was a special guest at the Carlton Football Club today. He first addressed directors and the management team of the Club before spending 45-minutes with the players and coaches. General Cosgrove spoke about leadership and being on the front line of the action. His personal characteristics of strength, courage and commitment to duty, which he displayed in his professional life as a career army officer, were evident in his address to both the administrators and the players and coaching staff.

General Cosgrove spoke about the role of the leaders and the importance of culture in the organisation to the directors and the management team, drawing on his experiences, including as the Chief of the Defence Force. To the players he also spoke about ‘being in the field” through his first hand experiences in Malaysia and Vietnam.

The son of a soldier who was a keen Carlton supporter, Cosgrove spoke of how his father missed seeing Carlton play when he moved to Sydney and that when Carlton was on television all else stopped while he watched his team play. While General Cosgrove’s Uncle played for Richmond, he admitted that through his father’s early influence he remains a Carlton supporter.

Carlton CEO Greg Swann presented General Cosgrove with a Carlton history book while Captain Lance Whitnall presented him with a Carlton guernsey. His addresses to the Carlton teams, on and off the field, were an insight into the person and displayed the level of respect in which General Peter Cosgrove is held nationally and internationally.