From the Pocket: Charlie Curnow was let off too easily for jumping ship

With about half an hour to go before last year’s trade period deadline, as player manager Tom Petroro began to resemble financial analyst Tom Piotrowski, Michael Voss phoned Charlie Curnow. The deal was unlikely to go through, the Carlton coach told him. Curnow would have to suck it up, mend some bridges, say all the right things and commit to the Blues again.

Within a few minutes, however, he was a star in someone else’s sky. The Sydney players they traded him for were on holiday in South America, and took a call from their now former coach. “They pretty much just said we want you out,” Ollie Florent told afl.com.au. “It probably could’ve been handled better,” Will Hayward said.

It was nearly a decade since Curnow had arrived at Carlton. The late Michael Turner told a story of how he urged clubs to take him as the No 1 selection in the 2015 draft. He was most insistent with Adrian Dodoro at Essendon, who had picks five and six and were coming off probably the worst year in their history. “No worries, son,” Dodoro told him, before selecting Darcy Parish at five and Aaron Francis at six.

Curnow slipped to pick 12, and was popular with Carlton fans straight away. Yes, some of his injuries were straight from the Frank Spencer school of self-sabotage. But the Carlton crowd, inured towards a glass-half-empty view of proceedings, would cackle with optimism whenever he was on a tear. In an honest but limited team, he was their point of difference, their energiser. “This group started from day one together, we want to continue to grow together and ultimately we want to earn success together,” Curnow said in August 2022, extending his contract for another six years.

Just 48 hours later, against Collingwood, Carlton suffered one of the most heartbreaking losses of the Voss era. Curnow’s game that day was a snapshot of his career – astonishing one moment, a bit breezy and headless the next. If he was a golfer, he’d have a sublime swing, the ability to reel off half a dozen birdies in a row, and lousy course management. It’s a career that has never quite delivered on the promise or hype. When he won his second Coleman medal in 2023, nearly a quarter of his goals came against the abysmal West Coast. He struggled to have an impact in all three finals that year. In 2025, when the rot really set in, he went goalless for a month.

Most things said or written in the lead up to trade period may as well be AI generated. Curnow’s comment, “I’m playing at Carlton next year. There you go. Done,” should be treated accordingly. We’re entitled, however, to criticise the way he handled himself. He called his move to Sydney “a change of scenery”. But he wasn’t a 70-year-old retiring to Noosa. He was a contracted player being paid astronomical money. In the current market, we end up shrugging our shoulders and saying words to the effect of, “It is what it is,” and, “That’s the footy landscape these days.” But that lets players like Curnow off too easily.

Supporters invest emotionally in a player, fork out money to watch him, and cut him a lot of slack. They listen to him say how much their support means, how proud he is to represent the jumper, and how he would never, under any circumstances, go elsewhere. Suddenly he’s a Sydney player, standing on defenders’ heads, being laced out by some of the best kicks in the country, and waxing lyrical about the Bondi lifestyle and the Bloods culture.

The Swans have a history of getting the best out of players like Curnow. And there was nothing surer than the AFL scheduling Sydney and Carlton to open the season. Jacob Weitering – Curnow’s former teammate, his footballing polar opposite, and the best man equipped to handle him – was squashed in the state of origin game and may not get to the line. If Sydney’s social media clips are any indication, Curnow may feast on whoever mans him. But in the long term, Carlton will be better off without his gravitational draw.

Every footballer exits their club differently. Some, like Kade Simpson and Sam Docherty, spill their guts for their team and are remembered as fondly as any premiership player. Some, like Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver, leave on a sour note but remain cherished players for previous deeds done. Some, like Jack Steele, leave for better opportunities with nothing but respect.

And some, like Curnow, opt for a “change of scenery”. Carlton’s captain, coach, chief executive, head of football and the player – Sam Walsh – signing an eight-year contract extension all did media interviews this week. All took thinly veiled swipes at their former full forward, a player they nurtured, protected and defended, a player who jumped ship when it all got too hard.

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