Opinion Charlie Curnow Leap

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If Charlie gets a thread..wheres Harrys?...neither did much leaping...they did a lot of physical work to open up the spaces.
Seemed like a match plan to me.

Leaping will come when needed. Windy nights are not the time.

And as Thy keeps saying...give the man a chance to get some real match fitness and timing back





by the way the great comic genius Peter Cook is the only expert I need when it comes to leaping................
 

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Revenant1965 said:
1. I am not a medical expert
2. I am not 'in the know'
3. I am trusting coaches
4. I reckon it's really great to see Charlie out there
5. I will leave it at that, and wish Charlie all the best
Click to expand...
On the internet we are all medical experts ;)
 
Without Charlie's knee MRIs across the last few years on my screen, it's impossible to know.

He's never going to have the same explosiveness that he once did, but for sure he can leap higher than he did on Thursday. I suspect confidence/mental factors are at play this early in the year.

We'll see what eventuates.

Also there is nothing to gain playing him in the VFL. He needs to play with Harry, and he demands a respectable KPD so Jack or TDK can get the 3rd tall.
 
windows1 said:
I thought about putting this in the injury thread but I believe it warrants its own discussion. It would be good to hear from people who have medical backgrounds and some knowledge of the matter.

Charlie is running great. His agility and pace look as they were years ago. No discernible change. His hands are a little off but I’m not bothered by that. His kicking still has amazing penetration. All things look the same as before…. But one thing

The topic is clear: he’s not jumping. Well, more precisely: he’s barely jumping. It’s as simple as that. It used to be an enormous asset. This for me is not the debate, he’s flat out just not launching at the ball at all like he used to. I don’t want a thread on whether he is or isn’t jumping. I want a thread on WHY he isn’t.

So there are 3 possible explanations:
(1) he has been told not to. Injury prevention. “Play within yourself to prolong your career. Save it for the big moments in finals”
(2) he has lost the confidence to do it.
(3) he can’t. Somehting has changed physiologically abs he can no longer generate the power. This is possible albeit my layman’s knowledge would have expected a power loss in kicking or a speed loss to accompany it. Which hasn’t happened.

So what’s the view? If you have informed insight please share!
Click to expand...
Hopefully #2 just rusty needs time to regain confidence mainly physiologically with the long layoff…
Who knows what he’s knee can enable him to do these days…
Far from an informed insight… 😬
 
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I reckon the premise of the thread is actually a bit flawed and we are misremembering Charlie a bit. Checkout this highlight reel from 2019



The things that stand out here are:
  • combination of strength and agility
  • reading the play and the ball in the air, and them either using his ability to get there, or strength to nudge opponents under the ball
  • ability to kick goals from range
Not shown in the video, but also an ability to draw free kicks

There isn t a single highlight there that involves a significant leap - he could still do everything in the video, he just isn't getting to the spot.

My take at the moment is that #3 is still there. His strength is back and agility is down a notch but getting there - theres a massive improvement here from the end of . The big thing that is lacking is reading the ball. We have seen some nice leads and kicks, but those moments where he beats his opponent to the spot and nudges them under it to get a mark, or where he glides through a pack to win a ground ball, haven't happened yet.

I reckon he might need quite a bit of time for that. Remmwber, its almost 3 years since he played a meaningful game, and its almost like being a rookie again in terms of reading the speed and pace of play. I could see this year involving 10-12 fairly ordinary games, perhaps building in influence around the ground over time, and maybe 2 games where it clicks against rubbish opposition and he kicks a big bag (Hawthorn in a couple of weeks is a big tip...). And likely am injury or niggle. Then next year, more consistency and some strong games against good opposition as well.
 
WFGodot said:
Too early to tell. He needs at least 4-6 weeks to find his way.
I would suspect their must be “some” impact in terms of natural leap. The other issue is psychological and really trusting his body. I’m as interested as anybody to see how this plays out.
Click to expand...
Every player is coming back from an extended break from AFL game day. It's called preseason. Why is Charlie any worse affected than all the rest of the team from the layoff over preseason. He had some games at the end of the year
Not buying this whole idea that his lack of form is due to needing to "find his way".

IIRC Charlie had a slow start to his last season, was seemingly over rated. But then came in to some form.

Imo Charlie will never be a consistent.player. Capable of the miraculous yes, capable of kicking bags yes, capable of spinning round outside 50 and booting one home off one step yes, but based on evidence to date , he is pretty inconsistent.

His best use if he stays as a forward is to help Harry divert opposition defender's from triple teaming Harry. But that requires some footy smarts and concentration, something that I have serious doubts about.

I hope I am wrong, but fear that I am right.

Perhaps Charlie would be great as a midfielder after all. It seems that his greatest strength is his endurance, that doesn't seem to have gone.

Sent from my Mi 9T using Tapatalk
 
I was pretty underwhelmed with what he showed when he returned last year. But I thought he looked impressive in the St Kilda practice match. I'm sure he's a slightly reduced athlete these days, but I'm backing him. Just needs a mini-bag and the confidence should return.

Part of Harry's 'explosion' last year was about confidence. Once the goals started to come, they kept coming.
 
windows1 said:
I thought about putting this in the injury thread but I believe it warrants its own discussion. It would be good to hear from people who have medical backgrounds and some knowledge of the matter.

Charlie is running great. His agility and pace look as they were years ago. No discernible change. His hands are a little off but I’m not bothered by that. His kicking still has amazing penetration. All things look the same as before…. But one thing

The topic is clear: he’s not jumping. Well, more precisely: he’s barely jumping. It’s as simple as that. It used to be an enormous asset. This for me is not the debate, he’s flat out just not launching at the ball at all like he used to. I don’t want a thread on whether he is or isn’t jumping. I want a thread on WHY he isn’t.

So there are 3 possible explanations:
(1) he has been told not to. Injury prevention. “Play within yourself to prolong your career. Save it for the big moments in finals”
(2) he has lost the confidence to do it.
(3) he can’t. Somehting has changed physiologically abs he can no longer generate the power. This is possible albeit my layman’s knowledge would have expected a power loss in kicking or a speed loss to accompany it. Which hasn’t happened.

So what’s the view? If you have informed insight please share!
Click to expand...

Think a little of each points. He was down on confidence the other night, on the back of having hands like stone. Give him a month and all of those points will look different
 

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therubbernub said:
Every player is coming back from an extended break from AFL game day. It's called preseason. Why is Charlie any worse affected than all the rest of the team from the layoff over preseason. He had some games at the end of the year
Not buying this whole idea that his lack of form is due to needing to "find his way".

IIRC Charlie had a slow start to his last season, was seemingly over rated. But then came in to some form.

Imo Charlie will never be a consistent.player. Capable of the miraculous yes, capable of kicking bags yes, capable of spinning round outside 50 and booting one home off one step yes, but based on evidence to date , he is pretty inconsistent.

His best use if he stays as a forward is to help Harry divert opposition defender's from triple teaming Harry. But that requires some footy smarts and concentration, something that I have serious doubts about.

I hope I am wrong, but fear that I am right.

Perhaps Charlie would be great as a midfielder after all. It seems that his greatest strength is his endurance, that doesn't seem to have gone.

Sent from my Mi 9T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Because the game has evolved, even in the short time relatively speaking that he was out. As has our style of play. Harry has emerged. It is a different landscape. Couple that with the notion that he will be adjusting to what his body can do and what the repaired areas can handle.
Hang on, Charlie is back, he hasn’t kicked a bag in three games over two seasons since his return. He must be rubbish so we better find a different role for him.
1647686130740.gif
 
Charlie finally found his best position at FF before the knee injuries. As long as H is in the side he'll be faced with playing a new or at least different role - that takes time even without the 18 month layoff.
 
Thanks all for your perspectives. I love Charlie. I am super confident regardless of his leap he will contribute a lot. His hands were def off the other night and he was missed on the lead multiple times I felt. He also worked super hard to not get out marked which I felt was invaluable to keeping the ball in the forward line.
 
Only strung 4 games together last year before the end of the season. Then straight into pre season. With his long layoff it’s not surprising he’s still easing his way back in and needs some time to get the continuity back into his play.

His name in the starting 18 is enough to have opposition coaches needing to out time into him and invest a quality defender. So long as he and H develop a great relationship in the forward 50, I’m more than happy for him to take the time he needs before he starts clunking them and kicking them from 55m
 
He's come back from a long layoff and found himself the 3rd or even 4th preferred target in our forward line, when he was shaping up as the go-to man while Harry was battling some developmental back issues.

Harry, TDK and a hard-working JSOS are all presenting as the key targets now. Charlie is playing decoy while he finds form and confidence. He's going to get limited supply in less dangerous positions, so I'm expecting at least a month of "underwhelming" returns. Hopefully he can carve out a role up the ground or recapture some of the magic and become a dangerous cameo player who can turn it on for 10 mins and kick 4 goals.
 
BigBreakfast said:
Because the game has evolved, even in the short time relatively speaking that he was out. As has our style of play. Harry has emerged. It is a different landscape. Couple that with the notion that he will be adjusting to what his body can do and what the repaired areas can handle.
Hang on, Charlie is back, he hasn’t kicked a bag in three games over two seasons since his return. He must be rubbish so we better find a different role for him.
View attachment 1348854
Click to expand...

As I said, even before he was injured, his rating was inflated IMO. It was all based on his miraculous games, but not on his games overall. He was pretty inconsistent. I hope I am wrong. It remains to be seen how good he is
 
More seriously, psychologically, it might also be finding his way in life again post-lockdown. It must have been so hard to have lived that straight-jacket life of an AFL footballer, plus chronic rehab, plus lockdown, especially being someone who got a buzz from the fame and parties.

My 21 year old son is partying pretty hard after the last couple of years. Can't blame him as he purposefully makes up for lost time. He needs to be around and bounce off people, his mates, he needs that love. I can see Charlie being the same. Maybe he is still trying to find his way around playing that serious role.

He might need to be let off the chain and live a little, get his mojo back by getting back living?
 
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