‘Never seen this’: Carlton disaster spotted before things turned ugly

There was a clear sign things were about to turn ugly for one of Carlton’s biggest stars with commentators staggered by an unusual act.

Charlie Curnow was given a “bath” as the Blues fell short against the Hawks on Thursday night at the MCG.

The star forward went missing in action in the rollercoaster contest where Hawthorn showed their class with a dominant second half.

The Blues, after leading at half time, conceded eight of the last 10 goals of the match to go down 8.12 (60) to 12.8 (80).

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The loss is not only Carlton’s second in as many matches this year but its ninth of their past 11 after a horror finish to 2024.

The Blues performed far better than they did in Round 1 but failed to run out the match against strong opposition in Hawthorn.

The loss of Harry McKay (injured) ahead of the match didn’t help, especially with an evidently underdone Curnow being well held by Josh Battle.

The Hawks defender was all over the Blues power forward, who finished goalless.

Curnow did not have a possession in the first quarter, had just two in the second, finishing the match with just five possessions without a shot on goal.

Footy pundit Kane Cornes was staggered by Battle’s dominant one-on-one win.

Charlie Curnow was worked on early. Photo: Channel 7.

“Never seen Curnow beaten as badly as this. Yes, the preparation is not ideal but Battle has been unbelievable. An old-fashioned bath,” the Port Adelaide premiership player said.

“I’ll have to ask the question, was he right to go? Was he right to play?”

Curnow was receiving some heavy treatment by the Carlton physio at the first interval, particularly on his quad, but remained in the match.

Channel 7 reporter Mitch Cleary noted the sight of Curnow receiving pickle juice to treat cramp at quarter time. Pickle juice is typically not needed until the second half when the fitness of players begins to be tested.

Battle was one of the best on ground with 21 possessions and a number of critical intercept marks.

Despite Curnow’s lack of impact, Voss was pleased with how the two-time Coleman Medal winner competed.

“He competed really well, where he’s at and in terms of his prep, it’s obviously his first game coming back in,” he said.

“Our commentary is always around Charlie being able to compete forward of the ball, it’s up to you to decide what you value in Charlie.

“If he kicks goals, we’ve only got one focal point, if he doesn’t kick goals, how come he can’t have an influence on the game?

“He brought the ball to ground, I will let you guys decide which way you want to go with that but for us he’s a valuable teammate and we love having him in our team.

“He gave us a focal point when we needed and he competed hard, that’s all I am asking for as a coach.”

Charlie Curnow was given a bath. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Former West Coast coach Adam Simpson said on SEN Voss and his coaching staff should have considered moving Curnow into a different role to get something out of him.

“They might need to look at Curnow... you have to look at something different,” Simpson said.

“Hawthorn are getting a lot of drive out of Battle intercepting and rebounding.”

Voss was happy with Carlton’s fight in the match but couldn’t ignore how the Hawks had more polish when the game was on the line.

“They turned up their intensity a bit, started asking questions, but I was pretty happy with our fight,” he said.

“There was a fair bit of determination within our group throughout the night.

“I don’t know, moments, take a contested mark, maybe there’s an inside 50 we don’t quite hit or a goal we don’t quite finish.

“Often in those games that’s what it comes down to, they come down to moments, there was plenty of swings in that game.

“There was some swings that went in our favour and some that went in Hawthorn’s favour, both teams were able to swing it back.

“I can’t ignore they were able to execute for a bit longer at times and it was probably the difference in the end.”

The Blues have the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood in their next two matches.

Meanwhile, Hawthorn’s 3-0 record matches its starts in premiership seasons 2008 and 2014

Hawthorn has played three games in 13 days but will have a nine-day break before it hosts the Giants in Tasmania next Saturday.

— with NewsWire

Originally published as ‘Never seen this’: Carlton disaster spotted before things turned ugly