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How Curnow tanked Crows draft interview to get to Blues with brother Ed
SEN • April 6th, 2025 6:15 pm
Former Carlton stalwart Ed Curnow got the most out of himself across 221 games in navy blue.
A midfielder who could stick to the task, Curnow plugged plenty of gaps for the Blues across an incredibly consistent 12 seasons at the club.
Having established himself as a genuine best 23 lock in 2015 as he played all 22 games that campaign, Curnow was joined by his younger brother Charlie in 2016 after he was taken at pick No. 12 in the 2015 AFL Draft.
After impressing for the Geelong Falcons, Ed knew that his younger brother would end up a first-round pick and he was just hoping he’d at one of the club’s three picks inside the first group of selections.
“I think by the time Charlie got to the club, I was still kind of grinding out my career and just started to fix a spot in the team,” Curnow told This is Your Journey – thanks to Tobin Brothers.
“You never feel safe, if you're that role type of player, so to be able to get to that spot in my career by the time Charlie arrived was nice.
“He was clearly going to be a great player and what he'd done in the juniors was really impressive.
“Then it was just hoping that no other club would take him beforehand.”
It wasn’t always a fait accompli that Charlie would end up at Ikon Park though, with Adelaide who held the pick prior at No. 11 holding significant interest in the young forward.
With a desire to get to the Blues, Ed, who spent one year on Adelaide’s list in 2008, revealed that Charlie purposely tanked his interview with Crows recruiters.
“I think Essendon were interested in some other guys, which was a relief,” Curnow said.
“He didn't interview well with Adelaide on purpose because he knew that I didn't love my time there, but that wasn't necessarily Adelaide's fault.
“I think it was Hamish Ogilvie and Patrick Dangerfield's old man (John) potentially at the time that went to visit Charlie.
“He kind of said he wasn't overly keen on going over there, which is pretty confident from a 17-year-old kid.
“But Charlie should have gone number one in my opinion.”
Ed would end up playing 221 games for Carlton, while two-time Coleman winner Charlie has played 134 in his nine seasons so far for the club.
Curnow spoke about his early life, career and life after footy on this week’s episode.
Listen to Curnow’s full chat with Sam Edmund below.
