Charlie Curnow
Curnow playing for Carlton in 2017.
Personal information
Full name Charlie Curnow
Date of birth (1997-02-03) 3 February 1997 (age 27)
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 110 (224)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023.
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 2023.[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
Career 110 224 133 1109 329 1438 631 197 2.0 1.2 10.1 3.0 13.1 5.7 1.8 34

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.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charlie Curnow.
Carlton Football Club – current squad
Coleman Medal winners
2022 All-Australian team
2023 All-Australian team
Carlton Football Club · leading goalkickers
2017 AFL Rising Star nominees
2015 AFL national draft
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