Player Watch #35 Charlie Curnow

[ashep]

To be expected but he's getting absolutely roasted on his Instagram farewell post.

 

[Adnico26Parker]

Our medical staff could barely keep our stars on the park in 2025. Prior to this year, they did a fantastic job, in particular to keep Buddy going. Hopefully they return to form in 2026 along with the team.

What did our medical team do wrong exactly? How could they barely keep stars on the park, when they snap their ankles in half in a preseason game? Or their ankles are f'ed and need several surgeries?

 

[Jeffers]

What did our medical team do wrong exactly? How could they barely keep stars on the park, when they snap their ankles in half in a preseason game? Or their ankles are f'ed and need several surgeries?

Stuffing up Mcdonald's recovery.
Amartey and Papley struggling to get on the park.

 

[Wheresbuddy]

Stuffing up Mcdonald's recovery.
Amartey and Papley struggling to get on the park.

McDonald I feel was misdiagnosed. I include the conditioning team as what they do, plays a big part in injury prevention and it's no coincidence that with a new guy in charge, our injury rate went up. Hats off though getting Ben Forster from Bne to do Errol's ankle. He is a genius foot and ankle surgeon who got me running again along with Joel Sellwood and countless Qld athletes.

 

[GoTheSwannies]

As far as key forwards go, he is almost the exact type we needed.

I like Amartey playing deep. I think he is our best "lead up and mark" traditional forward.

I like McDonald playing third tall. I have always said once we accept he is a third tall it's easier to appreciate how quality he is.

We just needed that other who could play a bit higher up and take contested marks.

Curnow is at his best when doing exactly that, so it feels like divine intervention that he wanted out this year and a perfect match for both player & club.

IMO we nearly bungled it badly in our efforts to get him, but he's here now and I think he will help make us a quality side once again.

As usual though it will matter for naught if we don't have dangerous smalls at his feet, pressure inside 50, we're still soft and don't defend, can't win clearances, etc. He is but one piece of the puzzle, but a very good piece.

In hindsight, the Daniher trade was a real sliding doors moment.

Brisbane dont make the grand final without him. Our forward line would have been much stronger with him.

Did we go hard enough for him. Were we too concerned about his injury history to take the risk?

caveat: obviously there are many other flow on effects, and our ability to turn up in GFs would still have come into question, but I just wonder what if.

 

[rustycrate]

In hindsight, the Daniher trade was a real sliding doors moment.

Brisbane dont make the grand final without him. Our forward line would have been much stronger with him.

Did we go hard enough for him. Were we too concerned about his injury history to take the risk?

caveat: obviously there are many other flow on effects, and our ability to turn up in GFs would still have come into question, but I just wonder what if.

We had to give up Papley and someone else and someone else. Essendon were ridiculous.
They made it not happen. Fair enough they did not want him to go.

 

[GoTheSwannies]

I don't know that Charlie has Pratt's leaping ability, but I like the suggestion just the same!



I went over to the Blues board to see what they had to say. I landed on a random page not long after the deal was done: https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/30-charlie-curnow-traded-to-sydney-.1118045/page-27. My God! The civilised posters that have come on this thread from the Blues make the rest look like mutant cannibals.

Anyway, among the numerous criticisms they are hurling at Charlie as he goes out the door is that he shrinks from challenges and pressure and that he won't be applying any defensive pressure. I have to say it was conspicuous to me that when a question was put to him about the success the Swans could have with him he was VERY quick to say he'll just be another player and isn't going to change anything. Sure, you could interpret this in a range of different ways, but I'm interpreting it that he doesn't not want any pressure on his shoulders. Unfortunately, when we have just paid the highest price in history for any traded player you can't avoid that pressure and AFL is a sport all about dealing with pressure and succeeding anyway.

For my part, I have to say that if he had been in the team for 2022 or 2024 I don't think he would have made a difference to the outcome. And that wouldn't mean he was to blame.



I'll be very surprised (and utterly delighted) if Charlie is an 80+ goal a season forward. He's only ever had one season where he kicked over 80 goals; and he's only had two others where he kicked over 50. This most recent season he only kicked 32 goals. We have put an awful lot of eggs in a very rickety basket.

Right now I'm still not happy with this acquisition. I feel like it was very canny of Carlton to separate the Florent trade because I think, once that was done, they had us over a barrel because we would have been betraying Will and Ollie who had presumably been assured of sticking together. Anyway, I'm going to do my best to forget that mindset and my negativity before next season begins and get into celebrating how awesome the clunks and snags Charlie produces are going to be. Hopefully the draft will cheer me up too.

I have no idea why we didn't hang onto Ollie and offer him up as steak knives in a subsequent deal provided we got the Curnow deal done at a price we were happy with (being 2 firsts + Will Hayward). But I guess we needed Ollie off our books before we were even able to take Curnow on, so Carlton pretty much dictated the terms all the way through.

In terms of negotiation, Carlton played it perfectly and made us their b****es. We obviously wanted Charlie badly, and they knew it. And they forced us to pay through the nose accordingly.

This is a premiership or bust trade imo. The whole Buddy putting bums on seats doesnt fly with the Charlie trade.

It'll either be remembered as a Jeremy Cameron deal or a Tim Kelly deal, no in between.

 

[rustycrate]

I have no idea why we didn't hang onto Ollie and offer him up as steak knives in a subsequent deal provided we got the Curnow deal done at a price we were happy with (being 2 firsts + Will Hayward). But I guess we needed Ollie off our books before we were even able to take Curnow on, so Carlton pretty much dictated the terms all the way through.

In terms of negotiation, Carlton played it perfectly and made us their b****es. We obviously wanted Charlie badly, and they knew it. And they forced us to pay through the nose accordingly.

This is a premiership or busy trade imo. The whole Buddy putting bums on seats doesnt fly with the Charlie trade.

It'll either be remembered as a Jeremy Cameron deal or a Tim Kelly deal, no in between.

I have no idea why we could not get more for Ollie than an F3.
He is a damn good player.

 

[Slingshot Footy]

I have no idea why we didn't hang onto Ollie and offer him up as steak knives in a subsequent deal provided we got the Curnow deal done at a price we were happy with (being 2 firsts + Will Hayward). But I guess we needed Ollie off our books before we were even able to take Curnow on, so Carlton pretty much dictated the terms all the way through.

In terms of negotiation, Carlton played it perfectly and made us their b****es. We obviously wanted Charlie badly, and they knew it. And they forced us to pay through the nose accordingly.

This is a premiership or busy trade imo. The whole Buddy putting bums on seats doesnt fly with the Charlie trade.

It'll either be remembered as a Jeremy Cameron deal or a Tim Kelly deal, no in between.

I just don't buy the narrative that we were bent over in this trade, unless Curnow turns out to be absolute rubbish of course, and/or we end up finishing very poorly on the ladder over the next three seasons.

We're in the box seat to secure most, if not all, of our academy picks for this year after getting two second-rounders back from Carlton in the trade. If you're counting on the Blues being rubbish in a couple of years, then we also get an excellent 2027 second-rounder in exchange for our first in what will be a heavily diluted draft already with Tassie coming along.

We've added an element of risk to our draft strategy for the next couple of years, sure. But we're also a club that still has access to an academy, so provided that we keep development strong, there's always going to be a decent player available for us to pick up every other year.

The only way I see us being bent over in this trade is if we somehow didn't get the currency we needed for this draft, along with maybe paying some of Florent's and Hayward's contracts.

 

[Wheresbuddy]

I just don't buy the narrative that we were bent over in this trade, unless Curnow turns out to be absolute rubbish of course, and/or we end up finishing very poorly on the ladder over the next three seasons.

We're in the box seat to secure most, if not all, of our academy picks for this year after getting two second-rounders back from Carlton in the trade. If you're counting on the Blues being rubbish in a couple of years, then we also get an excellent 2027 second-rounder in exchange for our first in what will be a heavily diluted draft already with Tassie coming along.

We've added an element of risk to our draft strategy for the next couple of years, sure. But we're also a club that still has access to an academy, so provided that we keep development strong, there's always going to be a decent player available for us to pick up every other year.

The only way I see us being bent over in this trade is if we somehow didn't get the currency we needed for this draft, along with maybe paying some of Florent's and Hayward's contracts.

I tend to agree as long as we get the best and fittest version of Charlie.

 

[GoTheSwannies]

I have no idea why we could not get more for Ollie than an F3.
He is a damn good player.

It was his contract ($$ and duration), the fact that he was dropped this year and obviously out of favour with Cox. And he doesnt really excel in any particular area of the game. He's just a durable decent player, I dont think clubs were queuing up to take on his contract, and we were looking to make room in the cap so it was a buyers market.

 

[Slingshot Footy]

I have no idea why we could not get more for Ollie than an F3.
He is a damn good player.

Long contract for a guy that was dropped from a team decimated by injury.

Although very late in the piece, the leak (probably by his agent) that stated we told Ollie to start exploring his options with other clubs also didn't help.

 

[GoTheSwannies]

I just don't buy the narrative that we were bent over in this trade, unless Curnow turns out to be absolute rubbish of course, and/or we end up finishing very poorly on the ladder over the next three seasons.

We're in the box seat to secure most, if not all, of our academy picks for this year after getting two second-rounders back from Carlton in the trade. If you're counting on the Blues being rubbish in a couple of years, then we also get an excellent 2027 second-rounder in exchange for our first in what will be a heavily diluted draft already with Tassie coming along.

We've added an element of risk to our draft strategy for the next couple of years, sure. But we're also a club that still has access to an academy, so provided that we keep development strong, there's always going to be a decent player available for us to pick up every other year.

The only way I see us being bent over in this trade is if we somehow didn't get the currency we needed for this draft, along with maybe paying some of Florent's and Hayward's contracts.

That's a fair perspective, and I oscillate between that and feeling we paid overs. It all hinges on what we get from Charlie, but theres no doubt theres an element of risk involved. Given his age, injury history and it being a 5 year contract, theres a real chance it blows up in our face.

And surely we aren't paying any of Ollies or Haywards contracts. They were keen on Hayward, and we would have been happy to retain him, so I'd imagine both parties were okay with his salary. Ollie is another story, but getting a 3rd rounder back suggests they didn't ask us to pay any of his contract, otherwise we got seriously reamed in that trade

 

[Jeffers]

I have no idea why we could not get more for Ollie than an F3.
He is a damn good player.

Had to be the contract and agreement that Carlton would take the whole contract.

Clean break.

Was a horrible contract to give in the first place

 

[Olian]

 

[JackHiscoxWasFast]

View attachment 2460054

No wonder we always slip over - that explains it

 

[hairy biker]

View attachment 2460054

Bloody media is obsessed with us needing marquee full forwards to bring the crowds in/keeping the Swans relevant.
It's been a recurrent theme across the last couple of days.

Whether you agree with the trade or not I would think most Swans fans would agree Curnow's recruitment has very little to do with membership/merchandise/crowds and very much to do with attempting to win flags.

Lazy annoying last century journalism.

 

[dosser]

I don't know that Charlie has Pratt's leaping ability, but I like the suggestion just the same!



I went over to the Blues board to see what they had to say. I landed on a random page not long after the deal was done: https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/30-charlie-curnow-traded-to-sydney-.1118045/page-27. My God! The civilised posters that have come on this thread from the Blues make the rest look like mutant cannibals.

Anyway, among the numerous criticisms they are hurling at Charlie as he goes out the door is that he shrinks from challenges and pressure and that he won't be applying any defensive pressure. I have to say it was conspicuous to me that when a question was put to him about the success the Swans could have with him he was VERY quick to say he'll just be another player and isn't going to change anything. Sure, you could interpret this in a range of different ways, but I'm interpreting it that he doesn't not want any pressure on his shoulders. Unfortunately, when we have just paid the highest price in history for any traded player you can't avoid that pressure and AFL is a sport all about dealing with pressure and succeeding anyway.

For my part, I have to say that if he had been in the team for 2022 or 2024 I don't think he would have made a difference to the outcome. And that wouldn't mean he was to blame.



I'll be very surprised (and utterly delighted) if Charlie is an 80+ goal a season forward. He's only ever had one season where he kicked over 80 goals; and he's only had two others where he kicked over 50. This most recent season he only kicked 32 goals. We have put an awful lot of eggs in a very rickety basket.

Right now I'm still not happy with this acquisition. I feel like it was very canny of Carlton to separate the Florent trade because I think, once that was done, they had us over a barrel because we would have been betraying Will and Ollie who had presumably been assured of sticking together. Anyway, I'm going to do my best to forget that mindset and my negativity before next season begins and get into celebrating how awesome the clunks and snags Charlie produces are going to be. Hopefully the draft will cheer me up too.

And these Carlton supporters are probably the same ones who said we should have paid more for him.

 

[JackHiscoxWasFast]

Really hope the opening round is at the SCG. Can not wait for the roar when he takes his first grab and kicks his first goal. Better not be any weddings or funerals on that day - no way am I missing it.

 

[Bonz]

Really hope the opening round is at the SCG. Can not wait for the roar when he takes his first grab and kicks his first goal. Better not be any weddings or funerals on that day - no way am I missing it.

Already decided I'm flying up for this one.

 

[Edmund hunt]

Wait until the boos he gets when he plays Calton at home.

 

[Olian]

Bloody media is obsessed with us needing marquee full forwards to bring the crowds in/keeping the Swans relevant.
It's been a recurrent theme across the last couple of days.

Whether you agree with the trade or not I would think most Swans fans would agree Curnow's recruitment has very little to do with membership/merchandise/crowds and very much to do with attempting to win flags.

Lazy annoying last century journalism.

If your not self righteous then you wouldn’t take it so personally.

Who cares what is written by the media.

 

[hairy biker]

If your not self righteous then you wouldn’t take it so personally.

Who cares what is written by the media.

'.... self righteous....'

What an odd insult to throw for an opinion on a media piece.

 

[Voice of the G]

Maybe the swans should have done a medical when he was visiting?

Oh wait...

I think they did.

 

[Olian]

'.... self righteous....'

What an odd insult to throw for an opinion on a media piece.

Nothing odd about it. If the shoe fits…