AS the AFLW season comes to a close and the AFL season is about to begin, Carlton CEO Cain Liddle is optimistic about the position the Club is in. 

Breaking membership records and clearing debt are just some of the targets on Liddle’s agenda, but on-field performance in the men's and women's departments are becoming increasingly important. 

“When we talk about winning premierships and being successful, it’s not just in our men's program, it’s in our women's programs as well,” Liddle said. 

“You start every season aiming to play finals and that’s what we’re going to try and do.” 

With sudden changes being made due to COVID-19 outbreaks, Liddle noted that the league and the Club will have to continue to be resilient in times of uncertainty. 

“It’s inevitable that it’s going to occur but I think the whole industry learnt, our club included, is that we did this last year. We learnt to be agile and certainly built resilience,” he said. 

“We’re all preparing that there will be things that occur during the year.” 

With 75,000 members now signed up to the Navy Blues, Liddle is positive that serving the members is high on his priority list, despite the restrictions on crowd attendance. 

“I see a whole other range of metrics behind the scenes that point to really high levels of engagement across our supporter base so the number and the members joining is really just an outcome for the great work being done by the people at our Club,” he said. 

“I think members are the lifeblood of your football club and perhaps some of the success has been around understanding that and ultimately, your primary responsibility in this job is to engage with your members.”