By Danny Russell and Andrew Wu
Camp Curnow has remained closed for the winter as the embattled Carlton players went their separate ways across their bye week in a bid to resurrect their underwhelming season.
Dual Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow said on Saturday the Blues did not feel a need to replicate their collective soul-searching efforts of 2023.
Charlie Curnow headed to Byron Bay during the Blues’ mid-season bye.Credit: Getty Images
Two years ago, the Carlton players famously spent the weekend around a campfire at Ed Curnow’s Surf Coast farm to help rekindle their dwindling season and propel them towards a preliminary final.
This time around, key forward Curnow flew north to Suffolk Park, near Byron Bay, and spent time with a friend whose partner had recently had twins.
“It was a bit louder than I thought it was going to be with two new baby twins,” Curnow said.
“But that’s the best thing about the bye round, you can go and do something that you haven’t really, or you can’t normally do on a normal week of work, you know, go see some old friends from school.”
Curnow said his brother Ed’s wife, Emily, had also had a baby recently, and she did not want 44 footballers descending on their Torquay property and eating all their food.
“It’s probably different circumstances to two years ago,” he said. “I think Camp Curnow might be put on hold, hopefully to the end of the year.”
Curnow was adamant that the Blues group had an “awesome” off-field connection.
“The on-field dynamics, we obviously just haven’t nailed at the moment, and that’s been a bit of an issue,” he said.
Sitting 12th, the 4-7 Blues come up against an undermanned Essendon next Sunday at the MCG and then have winnable games against West Coast in Perth, North Melbourne at the MCG and Port Adelaide in Adelaide.
When asked what impact the next month would have on Carlton’s season and the future of the playing list under incoming CEO Graham Wright, Curnow remained optimistic.
“Us right now as a football club, I would say it is extremely important,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say for the future of the list, I don’t know if it is that important for that, but I would say as a football club and making a statement, kicking back into the second half of the year, getting momentum, we’ve seen in the past where we can do amazing things in the back half of the season.
“We’ve been in similar positions as players at this football club before.
“It is going to be a fun challenge, it is going to be a big challenge, and obviously, we realise there’s going to be a lot of people watching, and the pressure is gonna be on. But that’s kind of why we are doing this.”
Curnow would not be drawn on the future of teammate Tom De Koning, who is the subject of a $1.7 million-a-year free agency offer from St Kilda.
“I’m not too sure what Tommy’s thinking individually, but obviously, we really want him to stay. But you might have to ask him that question,” Curnow said.
“We always ask about how we would answer this to the media if we get asked about Tommy, it’s a tough one.
Tom De Koning’s future has been discussed all season.Credit: AFL Photos
“Whatever he feels is going to be the best option for him, going forward, we’re gonna back him and support him.
“I think it’s always a bit of a touchy point in the AFL, if you can talk about this, or you can’t [players leaving clubs mid-season], but I think we should probably be a bit more open to these situations happening in the future as a whole AFL group. It’s pretty common.”
Curnow said he had not seen nor heard mid-week speculation that Carlton would be open to trading him or Harry McKay this off-season.
“I’m sure they’re gonna be throwing up a few names,” he said of the media. “I guess it’s their job to kind of speculate and throw names out there. So let them do it. I’ll come tell you guys, all right, if I’m going anywhere.
“But I’ve kind of got no idea what you’re really talking about, to be honest.”
Curnow said the Blues had been working on their forward-50 connection since returning from their mini-break.
“I feel like our defence is pretty solid. Being able to take the ball from one end of the ground to the other end we’ve been pretty good at. I think we’re No.1 or No.2 in the column for that,” he said.
“But, obviously, the hardest thing to do at the moment for us is putting it through the big sticks, and that’s something we were trying to work on today, how as a team, we can kind of create easier scores for ourselves.
Patrick Cripps and his Blues teammates have slipped to 4-7 after their first 11 games of the season.Credit: Getty Images
“We’re looking as a team, holistically, how we can create better looks for each other, and that is kind of making the ground, I would say, bigger offensively so the options are easier to see.”
Curnow also said he had not heard recent criticism from Essendon great Matthew Lloyd, who called on the Blues spearhead to show more fight and grit during games.
“I feel like I’ve been kind of grinding out games in a way I want to,” he said.
“I’m trying to run my opponent into the ground and try and work my way through the game, and I feel like I’ve been doing that at a pretty good level.”
Mighty result for Meek: Hawks big man escapes match-review trouble
Andrew Wu
Hawthorn ruckman Lloyd Meek has escaped suspension for his late spoil that left Collingwood’s Pat Lipinski concussed.
Meek had been in danger of a three-game ban but was spared a penalty by match review officer Michael Christian, who ruled the Hawk had made a “genuine” attempt at spoiling and had taken “reasonable care” in avoiding forceful high contact on Lipinski.
The news is a much-needed boost for the struggling Hawks, who will now have their premier ruckman available to take on in-form big man Tim English in the game against the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night.
The Lloyd Meek incident from the Hawks’ clash with the Magpies.Credit: Seven Network
Though Meek was late to the contest, his technique in punching the ball and the finding that contact was made “primarily” to Lipinski’s body spared him a suspension. Lipinski’s head made forceful contact to the ground, but Meek was not at fault for this, the league found.
Despite the heightened awareness of head injuries in the game, the ruling is acknowledgment accidents do happen that do not require a sanction.
It comes three weeks after the MRO took no action against North Melbourne veteran Luke McDonald after a collision with Brisbane’s Jarrod Berry, in which the Lions player was concussed. Fremantle skipper Alex Pearce this week had a three-match ban overturned at the tribunal for his part in a collision with Port Adelaide’s Darcy Byrne-Jones in a marking contest.
”With his eyes on the ball, Meek attempts to spoil with a straight arm that does not deviate from the line of the ball, and in doing so makes primarily body contact with Lipinski in the marking contest,” the AFL said in a statement on Saturday.
“It was the view of the MRO that Meek made a genuine attempt to spoil the ball, that his actions were not unreasonable in the circumstances and that he took reasonable care to avoid making forceful high contact to Lipinski in the marking contest.
“Furthermore, it could not have been reasonably foreseen that Lipinski’s head would make forceful contact with the ground as a result of Meek’s conduct. No further action was taken.”
Brisbane great Jonathan Brown said on Friday night there should be leeway for players to avoid heavy suspensions for an error of judgment if their intent was to play the ball.
“The players should be allowed every right to try to make an attempt on the spoil. I think it’s unfair to be expecting players to be absolute, perfect decision [makers],” Brown said on Fox Footy.
“I’m happy enough for him to have a sanction, but it shouldn’t be three [matches], because that is a player just genuinely doing his best for the team to get there and make a spoil.
“I’m concerned that we will lose a player in the first or second week of a final [for] a grand final — when the whole footy world is going: ‘That is unfair’.”
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