Although Charlie Curnow’s ankle injury has caused Carlton coach Michael Voss to downplay concerns, the Blues will have to make at least one change for their travel to Adelaide for their Gather Round match against Fremantle next week.
After sustaining an ankle injury with a few minutes remaining in the game on Friday, Curnow was unable to finish the 56-point victory over North Melbourne, which infuriated Blues supporters for their two-time Coleman Medal winner.
Under the supervision of club trainers, the Blues star was able to leave the field. He would receive further care during the interchange and stay on the sidelines until the last whistle.
The Blues were able to exercise caution with their star forward, Curnow, given his history of major setbacks, and chose to “put the cue in the rack” with the game virtually finished.
After the game, Voss commented, “Yeah he’s OK.”
“He wasn’t fighting me too hard with a few battle minutes remaining; he was content to place the cue in the rack.
“He did actually roll his ankle and obviously came off the ground limping, but there were four minutes left on the clock so we thought we’d park it.”
For their Round 4 interstate trip, Carlton will be without defender Caleb Marchbank, as the backman was injured in a marking duel in the second half.
Due to their exclusion from Voss’ side for Good Friday, Lewis Young and Brodie Kemp will most likely take his place.
Against a smaller North Melbourne team, Curnow and his crime-fighting companion Harry McKay were once again virtually unstoppable as a forward duo, scoring nine goals in a commanding attacking performance.
Despite any doubts about his goalkicking, McKay has emerged as the Blues’ greatest player thus far this season, with 11 goals and just two behinds in his first three games.
Voss stated that McKay is “as confident as I’ve seen” in reference to the Coleman Medal winner for 2021.
“He went through a journey last year, like all of us. He found some challenges he had to work his way through,” Voss said.
“It’s amazing when you take the time to work through that. It doesn’t always fall how you want it to at that particular time. He’s been able to use all of that and now putting in and refining his game.
“He’s as confident as I’ve seen him since I’ve been here. If anything, he’s finally got some reward for the great pre-seasons that he’s had. To see that transfer, now into the early part of the season, that’s been particularly impressive.”
Friday’s win sees the Blues head to Gather Round undefeated, with a mouth-watering clash against fellow 3-0 side Fremantle to come at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, April 6.
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