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“Lost his appetite”: Why Lyon is so disappointed in Curnow
SEN • June 24th, 2025 10:13 am
Garry Lyon has been so disappointed in Charlie Curnow’s efforts so far this season.
The two-time Coleman Medallist hasn’t fired on all cylinders in 2025, kicking 27 goals from 13 games after returns of 57, 81 and 64 majors in the three previous seasons.
While Curnow struggled with some injury concerns across the pre-season, he’s still featured in all but one of Carlton’s games this campaign.
After kicking at least one goal in each of his previous full 67 games, Curnow has been held goalless on two occasions in 2025, once in Round 2 against Hawthorn and most recently in the shock Round 15 loss to North Melbourne where he was matched up on Toby Pink.
Lyon expected Curnow to dominate that one-on-one matchup and he’s concerned that the star forward has lost his appetite to compete with everything he’s got on game day.
“When you prepare for Carlton it used to be, 'I'm panicking about Curnow, and I'm panicking about McKay'. Well, that seems to have dissipated, because Harry's injured and Charlie's lost his appetite for being a great player,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
“You've got Patrick Cripps beavering away in the middle of the ground and the rest of them are good soldiers. They don't really put fear into you, do they?
“I don't know (what's wrong with Curnow), it just looks to me as if he's content to be about the second, third or fourth banana and doesn't really want to stand up and say, 'Here I am, I'll be the man and get you over the line'.
“I was just really disappointed with the way he's played not only in this game but in games previously.
“People might turn around and say, 'Well, he's got an injury'. Well, I'm judging him on the basis that he hasn't (got one).
“He didn't lay a single tackle on the weekend. He played on Toby Pink, he didn't try and extend him.
“It looks to me like his makeup suggests, 'I don't want to take responsibility for trying to drag this club up from where they are’.”
Lyon caused headlines in February after he said he didn’t rate Curnow as an A-grade player, and he believes his statement at the time is now ringing true as the Blues sit 6-8 through 14 games in 2025.
READ: Why Garry Lyon doesn’t consider Charlie Curnow an A-grade player.
“Remember earlier in the year when we were talking about big key forwards, I said he's not a great, and people wanted to hound me down,” Lyon said.
“Well, here we are sitting at this stage of the year, and they (Carlton) are slowly going out of relevance at the moment.
“Patrick Cripps is not in great form but tries his guts out. Jacob Weitering tries his guts out in the back half, and I'm watching Charlie run around (not doing that). That's my observation of it.
“I’ve been really disappointed with the way he's gone about it.”
Even though Curnow could be judged on his lessening scoreboard return, Lyon is more concerned about his overall effort and he compared him to fellow previous Coleman winner Nick Larkey, who is also not in peak goal-kicking form.
“I compare him to Nick Larkey, who's also really badly out of form. But Nick Larkey tries his guts out,” Lyon said.
Every contest that Nick Larkey was in - against much better opposition in Jacob Weitering than Curnow had on the weekend - he fights hard, he scraps, and he throws himself back in the contest.
“He does everything you want from a key forward. Now, he's not in great form, but he laid five tackles on the weekend, Charlie didn't lay a tackle and he hasn't laid a tackle in seven games that he's played this year.”
Curnow will hope to respond when the Blues face the Power in Adelaide on Thursday night.
