Charlie Curnow’s disappointing start to his career at Sydney has been shoved under the microscope, with the key forward again going goalless on the weekend and looking like a man devoid of confidence.
Curnow was in dreadful form as the Swans took care of Gold Coast at Norwood Oval on Saturday, missing easy goals from close range and failing to have much impact across the board.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Charlie Curnow’s underwhelming start at Sydney Swans
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With Round 6 on the horizon, AFL expert Kane Cornes has called Curnow’s form a huge problem, and has also taken great issue with the former Carlton superstar describing himself as a “role player” in a media interview.
“I’ve had enough,” Cornes said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.
“I hear that Charlie Curnow wants to be a role player. You don’t give up three first-round picks, two much-loved players for a role player,” Cornes said.
“You’re not a role player. You are a marquee forward, like the Swans have always gone and get. They didn’t sign up for a role player.”
Cornes then did a statistical breakdown of Curnow’s performances so far this year, and compared them with other forwards across the competition.
Curnow, an All-Australian in 2022 and 2023, is averaging 10.2 disposals a game, 4.4 marks, 1.8 goals and six score involvements.
His numbers are comparable to 22-year-old Fremantle forward Jye Amiss and, as Cornes pointed, were behind North Melbourne eight-gamer Cooper Trembath.
“(Trembath) is beating him in marks. He’s beating him in goals (averaging 2.0 to Curnow’s 1.8). Look, the numbers stack up for an eight-gamer who was playing VFL footy last year. (North) got him in a mid-season pick. Cooper Trembath is outscoring Charlie Curnow, the marquee man at the Swans,” Cornes said.
Geelong’s Shannon Neale is another young forward who is, currently, outperforming Curnow.
“These numbers are dire,” Cornes said.
“I know it’s early, but he needs to lift. The Swans need him to lift.”
Cornes said Port Adelaide gun forward Mitch Georgiades, 24, was “smashing” Curnow while playing in a struggling Port Adelaide team.
“So this is a big story unfolding this year,” Cornes said.
“It hasn’t worked yet, and it needs to get going if the Swans are going to win the premiership this year.”
Agenda Setters host Craig Hutchison said Cornes had made his point well and it was “great data”, but it was an “unreasonable” hot take.
“Well, their whole profile of the way they defend and the way they attack and draw the ball is benefited by him,” Hutchison said.
“It’s early days of being cohesive in a forward line. They’ve gone from an 8, 9, 10th-ranked team to a top-two team.”
Cornes fired back: “So you’d give up three first-round draft picks, two much-loved players, and a million-dollar salary for those numbers?”
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Hutchison conceded the Swans “paid a premium” but was adamant Curnow’s best was yet to come.
St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt said it was a small sample size but Curnow’s recent history last year and this year showed “he beats up on the bad sides”.
“So you look at his form from last year, 11 goals in all of last year against top-eight sides,” Riewoldt said.
“And you look at his record this year, his seven goals have come against Carlton and West Coast, and against contenders in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, zero goals.
“So I just wonder about what Sydney have actually bought.
“We know at his best, Charlie Curnow, he is a jumping, launching machine that … attacks the footy, he takes it at the highest point, but don’t forget, there’s a history of knee (injuries), there’s a history of ankles.
“I just wonder whether he’s lost a little bit of confidence in his body … and that part of his game is just taking a long, long time to come back.
“So that’s the watch for me, how can he launch, how can he attack the footy like he’s done at his absolute best?”
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