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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). 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 draftCurnow 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 careerCurnow 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. StatisticsUpdated to the end of 2024.[15]
Honours and achievementsIndividual
References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charlie Curnow.
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