THE ENERGY giver at IKON Park? He’s only been around for a few months, but if you believe other teammates, Harry Charleson has taken to the role expertly.
For the 18-year-old from Ballarat, his remit is simple - enjoy every day as it comes, whichever way it comes.
“It probably hasn’t kicked in to be honest, but I love everything about it. The first few weeks are a bit daunting, but the boys made me feel at home straight away,” Charleson told Carlton Media this week.
“The first few weeks can be a bit daunting, but the boys made me feel at home straight away. I’m just taking it day by day and continuing to embrace it, I probably won’t ever get used to it but I’m loving every second.
“It’s still weird. You’re doing recovery in the pools and it’s just you and Paddy Cripps or something, you’re just like ‘jeepers, it’s ‘Crippa’.’”
In the final Friday Feature of 2024, Matthew Cottrell - who is currently living with Charleson, and is familiar with the role in question in its own right - labelled the rookie as the ‘energy giver’ of the group.
When quizzed about it and what that actually entails, something springs to mind for Charleson immediately.
“To be honest, it’s probably the happy birthday thing… every time one of the boys have their birthdays, I have to get up the front and start the song for the group. The first time it was like ‘jeez boys’, but I embrace it and my role.
“I’m not a great singer, but the boys join in so they don’t hear me too much - I can hold a tune. It’s such a good group so you feel comfortable doing it.”
It’s clear from the smile on his face that this is someone who is delighted to be involved.
It wasn’t that long ago that Charleson thought his AFL dream could’ve been over, even before it began. After two nights of the national draft, Charleson went unselected, and the mood was understandably sombre heading into the rookie draft on the Friday.
“It’s actually a funny story: after being pretty devastated after night two, me and Dad went for a hit of golf on the Friday morning. I wasn’t thinking too much of it, was just trying to keep my mind off it and preparing for the worst.
“It was a bit fishy that Dad was getting phone calls left, right and centre. We get home, my name gets called out - I didn’t see it coming at all. It wasn’t until after it all sunk in that about an hour afterwards, my family said ‘we all knew’.
“My manager called them and they knew it was going to be Carlton, they all went and bought merch. They weren’t Carlton before, but they are now and they’re pretty happy about it!”
Life's a bit different now compared to that day on the golf course.
Given the presence of a certain Harry and Charles on Royal Parade, it’s been a period of adjustment - especially in the nickname stakes.
“Whenever I hear ‘Charles’ around the Club, I keep looking back. Some of my mates back home call me that. Then I realise it’s Charlie Curnow.”
Then there’s the Harry element. One of four at IKON Park now, it was revealed by Cottrell last month - who Charleson admits there’s a new father-son dynamic brewing between the two - that there’s a new nickname for Charleson in particular.
The nickname? Garry.
It was thanks to Mitch McGovern, who christened Charleson to help differentiate him from McKay, Lemmey and O’Farrell.
“I didn’t think I’d ever get the nickname ‘Garry’, and I definitely didn’t see it sticking. Now that it’s here, you’ve got to embrace it!
“There’s a bit to it, it has a bit of character. It’s my name everywhere now: even the people at the cafe call me Garry for my coffee order. When the cricket was on, all the boys were asking how I was bowling and all this sort of stuff when Nathan Lyon came in - it was pretty funny.”
For Charleson, it’s very clear he wants to keep the good times rolling and give footy a red-hot crack.
The added bonus? Not having to do much work back home.
“My cousins have farms, my dad grew up on the farm, I still go and do a bit - I’ve gotten used to the header, that was on my mate’s farm. We’ve got sheep on our land, some llamas and rams but not too much to deal with.
“You can talk to my family though, they’ll tell you I’m not the best out there. I’ll leave it to Dad - I’ll just stick to footy.”
Nice, Garry.
