Carlton star Charlie Curnow has been given the green light to face Greater Western Sydney this weekend after swerving a ban for striking Gold Coast defender Steven May. Match review officer Michael Christian handed the 21-year-old a ban for the incident, but Curnow appealed, arguing the strike was careless but unintentional. A tribunal examined the case this week and ruled in his favour after just 14 minutes of deliberations. His punishment was downgraded to a $2,000 fine, and he was awarded a $1,000 discount on it thanks to his early guilty plea.
“I respect the decision made this evening by the tribunal and thank them for the outcome,” said Curnow, who came fourth in the AFL Rising Star race last year. “I’m looking forward to playing GWS this week, it should be good.” AFL legal counsel Nick Pane QC had argued that the height of Curnow’s forearm and the lateness of the strike indicated his actions were intentional. However, the panel was not satisfied with that and downgraded the charge to careless striking, which carries a lesser sentence.
It gives Carlton a significant boost ahead of their clash with GWS at Marvel Stadium on Saturday. However, the bookies still expect them to take a pummelling. If you check a reputable site like Bovada you will find competitive odds, you will see that Carlton are massive underdogs for this game, price at $11, while GWS are just $1.09 to pick up another victory. With or without Curnow, the gulf in quality between the two teams is vast.
The Giants are fifth in the ladder, with 11 wins from 18, and very much in the hunt for glory this season. They are the $8 third favourites to win the Grand Final, whereas Carlton are no hopers. The Blues find themselves rock bottom of the ladder, with just two wins from 16 games this season. As such the point spread is massively in favour of GWS in this game. However, green shoots of hope are emerging for the Blues after they beat Gold Coast last time out. The Suns are second bottom of the ladder, so it is no wild achievement, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.
There is young talent in this side, in the shape of Paddy Dow, Harry McKay, Dale Thomas, Sam Petrevski-Seton and Curnow. They combined for a sumptuous goal against Gold Coast, earning rave reviews from Hawthorn great Ben Dixon. “If the Carlton supporters sitting at home want to know what the future is like, it looks pretty good because Paddy Dow has had a tremendous game tonight and he starts the chain tonight, this is the future,” he said.
The 17th and 18th placed teams are both eagerly looking ahead to the draft in November, but there are still four rounds left and each team will aim to finish the season on a high and give their long-suffering supporters something to cheer. Gold Coast could still realistically rise as high as 14th before the season is out, but they will be without co-captain May for their next game. He accepted a one-game ban for a clash with Curnow’s brother Ed, having been charged with rough conduct in what proved to be a fiery clash.
Next up for Gold Coast is a trip to Melbourne, and they too are massive underdogs. The Suns are priced at $26 to secure victory, while Melbourne – sixth in the ladder and well in the mix for glory – are just $1.05 to pick up a win. Then Gold Coast will face Richmond after welcoming May back, and they are huge outsiders once again, so their chances of giving their fans a timely boost are looking slim right now.
