Curnow performance a “whack in the face” for Swans

Many would suggest that Charlie Curnow’s start to his Sydney Swans career has been below expectations.

He kicked three goals from 10 disposals in the Opening Round win against former club Carlton but has somewhat struggled since.

In Round 1 Curnow went goalless against a Brisbane side devoid of key defenders Harris Andrews and Darcy Gardiner, but the Swans won by 44 points so it didn’t matter as much.

In Thursday night’s 17-point Round 2 loss to Hawthorn, Curnow started well with two first-quarter goals but was unsighted thereafter.

Post quarter-time he had just three handballs to finish with seven touches and only two marks, blanketed by Tom Barrass particularly in the second half.

The Swans paid A LOT to recruit Curnow so there’s no surprises that his overall performance attracted criticism from SEN Fireball pair David King and Kane Cornes.

“This is the ultimate discussion - if Charlie is to be the man for this group then it’s not like last night,” King said.

“He needs to compete to the death.”

Cornes added: “Are you suggesting he didn’t compete to the death?”

King continued: “I think everyone who watched that game would say what a disappointing second half it was from Charlie Curnow.”

Cornes referenced the mammoth trade that saw Curnow leave the Blues to join the Swans, wondering if Sydney would be at all worried at this early stage.

“So the Blues received Will Hayward, a 2025 first-round (draft pick), a 2026 first-round and a 2027 first-round pick for Charlie Curnow, and he had one handball in the second half,” said Cornes.

“They made the move at half-time and Tommy Barrass went across. Not only did he nullify Charlie but he was pretty influential. I suspect he gets the 10 coaches votes.

“A bit early for buyer’s remorse with Charlie, but it’s a watch.”

King is confident that Curnow will bounce back but wants to see the 318-goal forward stand up against the competition’s better sides in order to earn his big bucks.

He reckons his performance against the Hawks was a “whack in the face” for Dean Cox and the Swans.

“He’ll be better than that,” he added.

“They got Charlie Curnow to this football club to help them beat the best teams.

“I don’t want to see him fatten his numbers against the bottom six teams. I want to see him kicking goals against the top six or seven teams.

“These are the games that they’ve recruited him for. I think it’s a real whack in the face for Dean Cox. I reckon he would’ve thought we’ll probably get at least a 50-50 halved ball.

“All he had to do was bring the ball to ground, or create a soft drop for the other forwards to reference.

“They didn’t even get that, so I think they’d be incredibly disappointed. They went to him 11 times inside forward 50, that’s a big number. They went to Joel Amartey and Logan McDonald four times each.

“When you’re putting all your eggs in that basket you’ve got to get a return. It’s a watch. It’s not a hanging offence in Round 2, but we’ll be waiting for the next opportunity against a top six team.”

Curnow and the 2-1 Swans now get a handy break before returning to action against West Coast in Round 4.