Forget experience - North Melbourne recruit Luke Parker wants to bring belief to his young AFL teammates.
Former Sydney captain Parker, who won a premiership in 2012 and played in four losing grand finals across 293 games, sealed a trade to Alastair Clarkson's Kangaroos over the off-season.
Parker, 32, left a team that has consistently been in premiership contention for a young North outfit that last played finals in 2016 and has been in the bottom two for the past four years.
"Talking to Clarko towards the end of the season, there was a real belief that they were really set to grow their club and head in the right direction, and they only need a few little key changes and few little percentage lifts that will take it to the next level," Parker said.
"And that was something that really excited me.
"There was a similar period where Sydney did drop, and it's probably a similar feeling here, where it doesn't take much to turn that around and grow a bit of belief and get things back on track.
"And that's the challenge I'm really looking forward to."
Parker, with former Bulldog Caleb Daniel and ex-Eagle Jack Darling, wants to bring more than just experience to players including Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw, Colby McKercher and Zane Duursma.
"The biggest thing for these boys is belief," he said.
"They've got a core group of leaders who drive really high standards. But it's almost like because there's not the wins on the board, there's probably that little bit of doubt.
"So I think it's almost reassuring that we're heading in the right direction. We're doing the right things, and keep driving those standards.
"They've obviously taken a little bit to get the group together in terms of the recruiting and who they want, and the young guys coming through are awesome.
"They've shown so much promise that hopefully the older guys can feel that belief and confidence starting to grow, and we can continue to build that over the next couple of months."
Parker had hoped to go out on a high with Sydney - but ultimately kicked three goals in the grand final loss to Brisbane.
But he was ready for a new challenge - and set on North after Clarkson told him the Kangaroos needed his leadership, but also his on-field help.
"That was the biggest thing, was he gave me belief in the impact I could have here," he said.
"I was kind of all in once I heard that."
Parker was excited to play with hard-nosed Wardlaw, who he joked had "a screw loose".
But he expects to play a mixture of midfield and forward line minutes.
"There's exciting players all over the field," he said.
"That's something that's great - I look at the team sheet, and it looks as good as any other team."
