Carlton will be without Charlie Curnow for their traditional season-opener against Richmond at the MCG on Thursday night – but son-of-a-gun Lucas Camporeale will make his AFL debut.
Blues coach Michael Voss confirmed on Sunday that Curnow, who had surgery in February to remove a screw from an old knee injury that was causing discomfort, would miss round one, but that Camporeale and ex-Giant Nick Haynes would play.
Charlie Curnow at training on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
Camporeale is the son of 1995 premiership player Scott Camporeale, who played 233 of his 252 matches for Carlton. Lucas is a wingman, just like his dad, and his twin Ben also joined the club as a father-son selection in last year’s draft.
Three decades have passed since Scott made his debut against Collingwood in the opening round of the Blues’ most-recent premiership season.
Midfield star Sam Walsh will also face the Tigers – barring a setback in the next few days – after recovering from a hamstring strain sustained in January.
“We’ve decided to be a bit more patient there,” Voss said of Curnow.
Scott Camporeale played in the 1995 premiership for Carlton in his debut season. Thirty 30 years later, his son Lucas is poised to make his debut for the club in round one.Credit: The Age/Getty
“He’s back training, and you’ll see him running around today [at training]. You’ll see him moving around really, really well, and you’ll sort of think, ‘God, why isn’t he playing?’ but we need to get some work under his belt.
“He’s had a really good week-and-a-half, two weeks. We feel like [by getting] another week under his belt, he’s going to be in a really strong position to not only just get him back, but we obviously need him thriving for another 20-plus games.”
Curnow on the track.Credit: Getty Images
Curnow, who arrived at training on a push-bike, has resumed full training and should return against Hawthorn in round two.
Curnow and Walsh both looked good in match simulation at Ikon Park on Sunday morning. Voss joked that they had to “keep everyone safe” at training because Walsh was “a man possessed” who was “tackling everyone”.
Curnow’s absence against Richmond means Harry McKay and Brodie Kemp will be the Blues’ main aerial targets. The dual Coleman medallist has played 69 games and kicked 202 goals across the past three seasons, after making only 15 appearances between 2019-21 because of repeated knee issues.
Carlton midfielder Adam Cerra is looking forward to welcoming Walsh and Curnow back into the team across the next fortnight.
“Obviously, we know the calibre of players they are, which obviously makes a big difference,” Cerra said.
“But on top of that, they are two vice-captains of this group, so in terms of the leadership sense, what they provide on field isn’t purely just their football ability – but also [how they] help others and really breed confidence within the group, so we definitely can’t wait to have them both back.”
Cerra played only 13 games last year because of hamstring and calf injuries, which led to him travelling to Doha, Qatar, for an intensive training week in the off-season at sports hospital Aspetar.
The 25-year-old onballer said it was a valuable trip and contributed to him completing a strong pre-season.
“We were able to find out some really good insights from that. That really helped shape what my pre-season training looked like, and I’ve been able to tick all the boxes since then,” Cerra said.
“I’ve done what I can to [increase my chances of playing] a full season … but I’ve just got to take it week-by-week. I know my body a lot more than previously. That’s probably the benefit out of last year, and the off-season, doing a bit more research and looking into myself a bit more.
“It’s probably just knowing how to listen to my body a bit more … to set myself up the best for the weekend.”
Carlton endured a horror injury campaign in 2024, and parted ways with high-performance director Andrew Russell at season’s end. Sydney’s former fitness boss Rob Inness replaced Russell at the Blues in September.
Defender Nic Newman (ruptured patella tendon) and prized No.3 draft pick Jagga Smith (ACL) will miss the entire season after summer setbacks, but Voss was confident in how they had prepared his players.
“The durability of our group has been well-spoken about. We’ve put a lot of effort into that,” Voss said.
“It’s probably a little bit disappointing to lose ‘Jags’ and also ‘Newy’ over the course of the pre-season, but we feel really well-prepared when it comes to the work that we’ve got into the guys.
“We’ve probably [also] gone to a fair bit of work on what our game style needs to look like moving forward, and we have made some modifications to what that actually looks like. We’re looking forward to being able to roll that out in the first game.”
