Charlie Curnow

Charlie Curnow
Curnow playing for Carlton in 2017.
Personal information
Full name Charles Curnow
Date of birth (1997-02-03) 3 February 1997
Original team(s) Geelong Falcons (TAC Cup)/Geelong College (APS)
Draft No. 12, 2015 national draft
Debut Round 2, 2016, Carlton vs. Sydney, at Etihad Stadium
Height 194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 94 kg (207 lb)
Position(s) Key Forward
Club information
Current club Carlton
Number 30
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2016– Carlton 149 (313)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 20, 2025.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Charles Curnow (born 3 February 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A key position forward, Curnow is a two-time winner of Coleman Medal as leading goalkicker in the AFL home-and-away season.

Junior career and draft

Curnow played his state level under-18s football for the Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup. He became recognised as a strong key forward with elite endurance.[1] He was considered one of the top draft prospects on potential, but with a few risks; namely that his junior form had shown flashes of brilliance rather than consistent brilliance;[2] that he had suffered a knee injury which saw him miss a large part of his final year of under-18s football;[3] and that he had been arrested for refusing a breath test in the week prior to the draft.[4] Carlton selected Curnow with its third pick, number twelve overall, in the 2015 AFL draft.[1] Charlie's older brother, Ed Curnow, had already been playing senior football at Carlton for five years at the time.

AFL career

Curnow made his AFL debut in round 2 of the 2016 season against Sydney at Docklands Stadium. He recorded eleven disposals, four marks, and kicked his first goal in the fourth quarter.[5] After an eight-point loss to Melbourne in round 16, 2017 – in which he recorded 19 disposals at 79% efficiency, ten marks, four tackles and two goals – he was the round nominee for the AFL Rising Star award.[6] He placed fourth overall in the 2017 AFL Rising Star award, with a total of 27 votes.

In June 2018, Curnow signed a four-year contract extension with Carlton, committing his future to the club until 2023.[7] He had a breakout season, finishing the 2018 season with an equal-third finish in the John Nicholls Medal, and was the club's leading goalkicker with 34 goals.[8]

In round 13, 2019, Curnow kicked seven goals in round 13 against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium, at that point the highest in his career.[9] However, he suffered a medial ligament injury in his right knee in the following match – a recurrence of injuries he had suffered on that knee as a junior player – and a slew of subsequent injuries to that knee, including a dislocation and a fractured kneecap in the 2020 preseason, and another recurrence in the 2021 preseason, has meant that Curnow did not play another senior game until Round 20, 2021.[10]

Curnow played every game of the 2022 AFL season and won the 2022 Coleman Medal kicking 64 goals.[11] Teammate Harry McKay had won the medal in 2021, the pair became the first different players from the same team to win consecutive VFL/AFL leading goalkicker awards since 1900–1901.[12] At the end of the season, he signed a 6-year contract to remain at Carlton until 2029.[13]

Curnow kicked a career-high nine goals in round 7, 2023, against West Coast;[14] then when Carlton played West Coast again in round 19, Curnow kicked a career best 10 goals, the first Carlton player to achieve this since Stephen Kernahan in 1995. Curnow won his second consecutive Coleman Medal, finishing the home-and-away season with 78 goals.

Statistics

Updated to the end of 2024.[15]

Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
  †  
Led the league for 
the season
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2016 Carlton 30 6 5 2 35 25 60 18 9 0.8 0.3 5.8 4.2 10.0 3.0 1.5 0
2017 Carlton 30 21 20 12 207 90 297 119 61 1.0 0.6 9.9 4.3 14.1 5.7 2.9 0
2018 Carlton 30 20 34 20 206 71 277 123 42 1.7 1.0 10.3 3.6 13.9 6.2 2.1 3
2019 Carlton 30 11 18 8 115 20 135 49 17 1.6 0.7 10.5 1.8 12.2 4.5 1.6 3
2020 Carlton 30 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
2021 Carlton 30 4 2 5 35 14 49 16 6 0.5 1.3 8.8 3.5 12.3 4.0 1.5 0
2022 Carlton 30 22 64 † 42† 231 33 264 126 35 2.9 1.9 10.5 1.5 12.0 5.7 1.6 11
2023 Carlton 30 26 81 † 44† 280 76 356 180 27 3.1 1.7 10.8 2.9 13.7 6.9 1.0 17
2024 Carlton 30 21 57 41 214 40 254 125 20 2.7 2.0 † 10.2 1.9 12.1 6.0 1.0 2
Career 131 281 174 1323 369 1692 756 217 2.1 1.3 10.1 2.8 12.9 5.8 1.7 36

Honours and achievements

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b "Pick 12: Charlie Curnow". Carlton Football Club. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  2. ^ Jon Ralph (29 June 2018). "The reason why Charlie Curnow slid to No.12 in the 2015 national draft". Herald Sun.
  3. ^ Callum Twomey (26 October 2015). "29 days to the draft: Meet contested beast Charlie Curnow". Australian Football League. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  4. ^ Bethany Tyler, Anthea Cannon and Nick Wade (8 January 2016). "Geelong court: Former Falcon and Carlton recruit Charlie Curnow pleads guilty to raft of charges". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  5. ^ "Carlton Vs Sydney Swans". AFL.com.au. Telstra. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  6. ^ McGowan, Marc (10 July 2017). "Give me five: Blues bag yet another nomination". AFL.com.au. Telstra. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Curnow commits". Carlton Football Club. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Cripps claims second John Nicholls Medal". Carlton Football Club. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  9. ^ Wallace, Julian (15 June 2019). "Match report: Blues v Dogs". Carlton Football Club. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  10. ^ Sam McClure (17 March 2021). "'I feel sorry for him': What happened to Charlie Curnow, and can he still be the next Kouta?". The Age. Melbourne, VIC.
  11. ^ "Coleman Medal leaderboard 2022: Charlie Curnow claims honour". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Blues pair achieve rare feat after Charlie Curnow seals Coleman". www.sen.com.au. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  13. ^ Pierik, Jon; Vinali, Jon (19 August 2022). "Curnow signs with Blues until 2029; Star Magpies take to track". The Age. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  14. ^ Nathan Schmook (1 May 2023). "Blues cruise: King Charles bags nine as Carlton crushes Eagles". www.afl.com.au. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  15. ^ "Charlie Curnow". AFL Tables. Retrieved 2 July 2019.