CHARLIE Curnow has agreed to stay at the Club 'as long as he can', signing on for an extra six years at the Blues.
Speaking to Carlton Media, Curnow detailed his dream to play for Carlton, following in his brother's footsteps, and how much building success as a team means to him.
Here's what he had to say:
On the position he's in:
"I’m pretty pumped where I can be in a position to do something like this.
"I’ve always come to the Carlton Football Club thinking that it’s a good home for me, I’ve got such great connections to all of the boys here, it’s something I really want to keep in my life and going forward.
"When Ed got drafted here in 2010, I got to come here as a young kid and enjoy the Club and watch guys like Yarran, Betts, Garlett, Murphy, Walker, all these guys run around the field. I always loved the idea of playing at Carlton, so to get drafted to the Club with Ed – I couldn’t think of somewhere better to be."
On his future:
"It’s always been a dream of mine to play for Carlton and I've been building something with these boys for too long now to let it go.
"I just can’t wait for the next couple of years and the rest of this year: it’s been a journey so far with a lot of ups and downs, but something I've really enjoyed.
"My whole family outside of the Club, brothers and sisters and Mum and Dad, they’ve got such a high involvement with this club and I've got to know the other families around the Club. It’s just a nice play to be."
On his recovery from injury:
"When you’re injured, you doubt yourself a lot and things are a lot harder. You become stuck in your way when you’re out for three years.
"To be able to stick to what I know and build my confidence back and start playing good footy again, it’s built off working hard and getting my job done while I was injured.
"It feels great to have the support of the fans and the support of the Club. I really want to pay them back and that’s kind of why I’ve done this: I really want to show the Club I care about them and care about the fans.
"I’m doing a lot of this for my family and hopefully there’s a lot of better times to come, I can’t wait to pay them back."
On the support from his teammates:
"I played my first game back last year and the amount of support I got in that game, to go out and do my thing and enjoy myself.
"Things can slip away and you get left out of the program but the commitment the team made to me and involving me in the program makes it all easier when you come back.
"I thought I was pretty hopeless early days, I thought I was doing nothing: I was training well but I couldn’t put it all together on the field. That’s where my teammates really supported me and showed a lot of confidence in me and telling me that I can have an impact in the game.
"It’s been them and my family that really got me over the line and always knew I could do it and I’m glad I’m finally showing something."
On his draft class:
"It doesn’t feel like too long ago, seven years. When you’re with a group of people for such a long time, you do naturally get closer and then working hard together, we’ve built a lot of trust as a group.
"I got drafted with those [McKay and Silvagni] as well, so it’s special being a group for seven years, building that time together as a forward line. Now that we’re seeing some reward, it’s a much better feeling because we’ve built that together."
On the fans:
"It’s obviously such a passionate club and supporter base and fans.
"For me, someone who was out of the game for so long, to feel the support in a game, it’s an addictive feeling, I love it.
"When the team is going well, putting on pressure, playing the way we want to play and they’re clapping when 'Durds' does a smother: it’s infectious and we love them for it.
"I think we’re showing such a good base as a football club, we’re showing a lot of good signs but our consistency and striving to get better. I feel like they know it’s coming and they can feel what we’re building and they really believe in it.
"When they’re supporting us the way they are in the stadium, it’s a great feeling and it’s something every week you look forward to because once we get going, you can’t put the Carlton supporters back in their seats."
