Winning a clearance gets the ball going the team's way, it's then up to the players forward of the clearance to position themselves to take advantage. You only have to look at Richmond who just look to get the ball moving forward being it a knock on or kicking it off the ground etc as long as it keeps the ball in forward motion.
Oh I'm so, SO glad you bought up Richmond.
Guess where Richmond finished on average clearances per game in 2019? 18th.
But please tell me more about how they're a great example of clearances being important.