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Live sport on SN this weekend"It'll come": Why Papley is sure Curnow will star for Sydney
Harry Cumming • April 4th, 2026 3:26 pm
Sydney small forward Tom Papley has thrown his support behind new Swans recruit Charlie Curnow after a challenging start to life in the red and white.
Curnow had a solid start in Opening Round against the Blues with 3.2, though most of his goals came well after the result was done and dusted.
He was then held goalless with 0.2 against Brisbane in Round 1, and despite a promising start against the Hawks in Round 2 with two early goals, Curnow was well held by Tom Barrass after quarter time.
It’s led to Papley, who plays his 200th game this weekend, going in to bat for his fellow forward on SEN's Kick Off with Brandy and Jimmy.
“Curnow's obviously a great in for us in the trade period and yeah, he hasn't been in form, but I'm sure it'll come for him,” he said.
Curnow was one of the biggest stories out of last year’s trade period with the two-time Coleman Medallist traded to Sydney in the final minutes of deadline day with the Blues receiving Will Hayward, pick 11 and a first rounder in 2026 and 2027 as part of a deal which saw a raft of picks exchanged.
It was a big price to pay for the Swans, but one they deemed worthy having struggled to find a big-name forward since the retirement of Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin.
“He's worked so hard at his game, and it's always hard coming from another club to a new club and then hitting a strap straight away. He's not too far away from from kicking a few goals and taking a few good marks,” Papley explained.
Curnow joins Joel Amartey and Logan McDonald as key targets up forward and gives the Swans an intimidating tall forward line. It’s led to Papley admitting that some changes have been made to the game plan to accommodate for the extra tall target.
“We've changed our game plan, our attack a little bit, our structures and things like that,” Papley said.
“It doesn't change too much but I think it probably more helps out the other guys like Joel Amartey and Logan McDonald that because Charlie’s there now, he takes the best defender, and that sort of gets the other boys off the chain a little bit.
“I think in Round 1 Joel (Amartey) kicked 5 goals and played on a lesser defender where if Charlie wasn't there, he would have played on their best defender and made it a tougher day.”
Curnow will be looking to take advantage of a trip to Perth this weekend with the Swans playing West Coast on Saturday at 7:35pm AEDT/4:35pm AWST which looms as a great chance for the big forward to kick a bag.
