Ed Curnow could be in trouble for making contact with an umpire against Essendon

JUST a week after Tom Hawkins was banned for touching an umpire, Carlton’s Ed Curnow and Gold Coast’s Steven May are now under the microscope. Do they have anything to worry about? WATCH HERE

Ed Curnow hugs Zac Fischer after a goal. Picture: Michael Klein

ED Curnow might have an appointment with the tribunal this week, but the job he did on Zach Merrett was every bit as noteworthy as the Carlton midfielder’s third-term umpire touch.

For Curnow’s blanket job on last year’s All-Australian midfielder gave opposition coaches yet another reason why tagging Merrett needs to be first piece in any pre-planning before taking on the Bombers.

GAME RECAP: HOW THE BLUES BEAT THE BOMBERS

And unless Merrett can do something to find a way in dealing with the close-checking he is now getting on a weekly basis, it is going to be a painfully long season for him, as it looks like being for his side at the moment.

The Essendon midfielder couldn’t find the space or seemingly the spirit to break clear of Curnow, who has been one of the Blues’ best performers so far this year.

Ed Curnow celebrates Carlton’s win with his teammates. Picture: AAP Images

It was the second week in a row that Merrett struggled to break the tag, in what has become an alarming trend for him this year.

Last week, it was Hawthorn’s youngster James Cousins who did the job, restricting him to only 17 touches and zero impact. Earlier this year, Freo’s Bailey Banfield did a similar job on him.

Curnow’s effective shutdown of Merrett provided the template that will be used for the rest of the season.

He went with him almost everywhere on the field, other than the start of the third term when Bombers coach John Worsfold had him start deep in attack. Allowed some space for once, Merrett scored the first goal of the third term.

But the respite didn’t last long. And Curnow, himself, managed two goals of his own, including the most crucial one in the final term that gave the Blues some breathing space.

Will Ed Curnow come under scrutiny for this? #AFLBluesDons pic.twitter.com/DF29IE3BKx

— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) May 12, 2018

He had 24 disposals and laid 13 tackles. Merrett could only manage 16 touches, even if the out-of-form Bomber didn’t get much assistance from his teammates.

Given Tom Hawkins got a week for touching an umpire at the AFL tribunal last week, Curnow would understandably be concerned about what might come from the match review assessment on Sunday.

“I haven’t seen that vision, but like anything, umpires have such a difficult role in umpiring our game because it’s just so quick,” Carlton coach Brendon Bolton said.

“I haven’t seen it to understand it but what I will say is we always should protect umpires.”

But the way he belted out Carlton’s theme song after the match, his attention was solely set on the club’s breakthrough win which came on the back hard work and contested effort.

His brother, Charlie, gets most of the external attention — and understandably so — but the blue-collar work rate of Ed played such a significant role on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Gold Coast skipper Steven May is sure to be looked at by the MRO for this incident with an umpire last night.

May made contact with umpire David Harris in the second quarter.

Steven May made contact with umpire David Harris in the second quarter. #AFLSunsDees pic.twitter.com/36BHIsaUnc

— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) May 12, 2018

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