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 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. 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; that he had suffered a knee injury which saw him miss a large part of his final year of under-18s football; and that he had been arrested for refusing a breath test in the week prior to the draft. Carlton selected Curnow with its third pick, number twelve overall, in the 2015 AFL draft. 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 at Docklands Stadium. He recorded eleven disposals, four marks, and kicked his first goal in the fourth quarter. After an eight-point loss to 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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

Curnow played every game of the 2022 AFL season and won the 2022 Coleman Medal kicking 64 goals. 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. At the end of the season, he signed a 6-year contract to remain at Carlton until 2029.

Curnow kicked a career-high nine goals in round 7, 2023, against ; 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.


 * scope="row" text-align:center | 2016
 * 30 || 6 || 5 || 2 || 35 || 25 || 60 || 18 || 9 || 0.8 || 0.3 || 5.8 || 4.2 || 10.0 || 3.0 || 1.5 || 0
 * scope="row" text-align:center | 2017
 * 30 || 21 || 20 || 12 || 207 || 90 || 297 || 119 || 61 || 1.0 || 0.6 || 9.9 || 4.3 || 14.1 || 5.7 || 2.9 || 0
 * scope="row" text-align:center | 2018
 * 30 || 20 || 34 || 20 || 206 || 71 || 277 || 123 || 42 || 1.7 || 1.0 || 10.3 || 3.6 || 13.9 || 6.2 || 2.1 || 3
 * scope="row" text-align:center | 2019
 * 30 || 11 || 18 || 8 || 115 || 20 || 135 || 49 || 17 || 1.6 || 0.7 || 10.5 || 1.8 || 12.2 || 4.5 || 1.6 || 3
 * scope="row" text-align:center | 2020
 * 30 || 0 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
 * scope="row" text-align:center | 2021
 * 30 || 4 || 2 || 5 || 35 || 14 || 49 || 16 || 6 || 0.5 || 1.3 || 8.8 || 3.5 || 12.3 || 4.0 || 1.5 || 0
 * scope="row" text-align:center | 2022
 * 30 || 22 || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 64 † || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 42† || 231 || 33 || 264 || 126 || 35 || 2.9 || 1.9 || 10.5 || 1.5 || 12.0 || 5.7 || 1.6 || 11
 * scope="row" text-align:center | 2023
 * 30 || 26 || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 81 † || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 44† || 280 || 76 || 356 || 180 || 27 || 3.1 || 1.7 || 10.8 || 2.9 || 13.7 || 6.9 || 1.0 || 17
 * - style="background:#EAEAEA; font-weight:bold; width:2em"
 * scope="row" text-align:center class="sortbottom" colspan=3 | Career
 * 110
 * 224
 * 133
 * 1109
 * 329
 * 1438
 * 631
 * 197
 * 2.0
 * 1.2
 * 10.1
 * 3.0
 * 13.1
 * 5.7
 * 1.8
 * 34
 * }
 * 224
 * 133
 * 1109
 * 329
 * 1438
 * 631
 * 197
 * 2.0
 * 1.2
 * 10.1
 * 3.0
 * 13.1
 * 5.7
 * 1.8
 * 34
 * }

Honours and achievements
Individual
 * All-Australian team: 2022, 2023
 * 2× 22under22 team: 2017, 2018
 * AFL Rising Star nominee: 2017
 * Coleman Medal: 2022, 2023