Role model: Alipate Carlile with students from Adelaide Secondary School of English (clockwise from front left) Daniel, 15, Mayleezoeh, 16, Swedi, 16, Nyaduathtor, 18, Ndagu, 16, and Dange, 18. Source: The Advertiser
PORT Adelaide defender Alipate Carlile is now a bona fide, certified role model.
And the responsibility that comes from being named as the AFL's new (and only) SA-based multicultural ambassador may be part of triggering a significant change in how the 25-year-old key defender is perceived in the big league.
Carlile is giving up his own time to serve the AFL's multicultural campaign. That is a sign of a man who has come to understand what commitment really means.
Carlile is taking on leadership of young AFL and SANFL-based footballers wanting to give back to the community.
This bodes well for a Power defence stripped of its senior players and needing a return for the 111 AFL games invested in Carlile since 2006.
How all this off-field maturity reflects on the field this AFL premiership season is the biggest challenge before Carlile.
The bottom line for Carlile is that the criticism of how his talent appears to have been wasted recently has gained significant merit.
"It's warranted," says Carlile, who had the penny drop well before new coach Ken Hinkley delivered some cutting assessments.
"I sat down with a few of the boys before the end of last season and there were a few home truths told then. I had to change - and by hard work.
"I take full responsibility for the past three years and some of my efforts in the past. But if we, as a football club, are going to win back respect, that has to change."
Carlile has shed 3kg during the pre-season and looks much leaner.
"It's helped me run," Carlile said.
The Fijian-heritage defender - who has taken fellow Fijian David Rodan's role as an AFL multicultural ambassador - runs eagerly rather than with a laconic look on the critical changes in thinking from Hinkley.
"Ken's changed our thinking," Carlile said.
"It's no longer about getting through a training session. It's about improving with every session. Ken had a few cracks at me. They were warranted."
As Carlile spends time in schoolyards, the Power defender needs to minimise reasons for being ribbed - as he was in the outer of Port games last season.
"Seeing how the kids are so excited when a footballer comes to their school has opened my eyes on the respect they have for AFL players," Carlile said.
"It tells me how important it is to be a role model.
"This multicultural campaign is important too. Multiculturalism is something I feel passionate about, so giving up a day a week for this program doesn't feel like an obligation for me."
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