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Find your frequency here“Blow it up”: Why Carlton should explore Curnow, McKay and Walsh trades
SEN • July 24th, 2025 11:14 am
Carlton should “blow it up” and start again.
That is according to Josh Jenkins who believes the Blues must explore potential trades for Charlie Curnow, Harry McKay and Sam Walsh.
Curnow has been sensationally linked to the Gold Coast Suns, as well as Sydney and Geelong, after news emerged of an apparent desire to leave the Blues.
McKay’s name has frequently been thrown up in trade circles over the course of the year, likewise Walsh.
In a bid to upend the perpetual cycle of mediocrity the club finds itself in, Jenkins has implored the Blues to be savage in their list management strategy.
“My personal view on Carlton is that the window for them is firmly shut,” Jenkins said on SEN’s The Run Home.
“They could be a better version of themselves next year but I can’t see a world where they go from what they are right here right now - lose one or two players - and be better and good enough to compete.
“We don’t want to compete to finish eighth, do we?
“Carlton at this point, for as long as it’s been, don’t need to be thinking about finishing seventh. They need to think about how we can finish first.
“I would use the term ‘blow it up’. I would absolutely be all-in on exploring Charlie on the move, Harry McKay on the move. Work out what is going on with Sam Walsh because there’s a lot of noise around him.
“Work out what needs to happen.”
Jenkins also wondered if the Blues could up their offer for St Kilda target Tom De Koning if Curnow does happen to depart.
He still sees some sort of future for De Koning as a Blue if it gets to that.
“If you’re sitting around the list management table for Carlton you’ve slid Tom De Koning’s magnet across the board. We’re happy to slide it back but it’s probably over there,” he continued.
“The thing is, if this Charlie Curnow stuff is real and it’s caught them potentially off guard, are we able to slide the De Koning magnet back if Charlie goes out the door?
“I’m aware De Koning is a ruckman, I’m not stupid, but I don’t see him for Carlton and what he means to Carlton and what the best version of him looks like to Carlton as just a ruckman.
“I’ve always seen him as a real needle-mover for them. When he’s up and going, they look the best version of themselves.
“I’d be comfortable to add another couple hundred on (to the offer to make it $1.2m). But that is probably contradictory to what I’m saying in terms of let’s go right back and start all over.
“He can be part of the future and that’s why you have the conversation around ‘at your age you still have seven or eight good years for us’.”
The 12th-placed Blues, on the back of a win over Melbourne last week, meet Hawthorn at the MCG on Thursday night in Sam Docherty’s final game.
