Charlie Curnow
Charles Curnow (born 3 February 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). One of the top key forwards of his era, Curnow is a two-time winner of Coleman Medal as leading goalkicker in the AFL home-and-away season.
Charlie Curnow | |||
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Personal information | |||
Full name | Charlie Curnow | ||
Date of birth | 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 | 110 (224) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023. | |||
Career highlights | |||
| |||
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com |
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]
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 | TBC |
Career | 110 | 224 | 133 | 1109 | 329 | 1438 | 631 | 197 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 10.1 | 3.0 | 13.1 | 5.7 | 1.8 | 17 |
Honours and achievements
Individual
- All-Australian team: 2022, 2023
- 2× 22under22 team: 2017, 2018
- AFL Rising Star nominee: 2017
- Coleman Medal: 2022, 2023
References
- "Pick 12: Charlie Curnow". Carlton Football Club. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- Jon Ralph (29 June 2018). "The reason why Charlie Curnow slid to No.12 in the 2015 national draft". Herald Sun.
- Callum Twomey (26 October 2015). "29 days to the draft: Meet contested beast Charlie Curnow". Australian Football League. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- 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.
- "Carlton Vs Sydney Swans". AFL.com.au. Telstra. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- McGowan, Marc (10 July 2017). "Give me five: Blues bag yet another nomination". AFL.com.au. Telstra. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- "Curnow commits". Carlton Football Club. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
- "Cripps claims second John Nicholls Medal". Carlton Football Club. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
- Wallace, Julian (15 June 2019). "Match report: Blues v Dogs". Carlton Football Club. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
- 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.
- "Coleman Medal leaderboard 2022: Charlie Curnow claims honour". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- "Blues pair achieve rare feat after Charlie Curnow seals Coleman". www.sen.com.au. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- Pierik, Jon; Vinali, Jon (19 August 2022). "Curnow signs with Blues until 2029; Star Magpies take to track". The Age. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- Nathan Schmook (1 May 2023). "Blues cruise: King Charles bags nine as Carlton crushes Eagles". www.afl.com.au. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
- "Charlie Curnow". AFL Tables. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
External links
- Charlie Curnow's profile on the official website of the Carlton Football Club
- Charlie Curnow's playing statistics from AFL Tables