Cagey Blues coach Voss declares Curnow right for Saints
Oliver Caffrey |
A cagey Michael Voss has attempted to diffuse any concern over Charlie Curnow’s fitness after the star Carlton forward was involved in a heavy training collision.
The Blues coach has declared the dual Coleman medallist available for Friday night’s clash with St Kilda at the MCG.
Curnow took part in Carlton’s captain’s run on Thursday in a bid to reassure medical staff he is fine to play.
The 28-year-old ran freely and spent about 10 minutes kicking at goal during a light session for the entire group, and he was named in the team on Thursday night.
Voss confirmed Curnow had collided with star ruckman Tom De Koning at training, but disputed reports the Blues spearhead had an issue with his knee.
“He’ll be fine,” Voss said earlier on Thursday.
“The last 30 seconds of the drill, him and Tom had a nice little collision, so it’s not exactly what you want to see.
“I tried to have a bit of a laugh to fob it off, but holding his knee is incorrect.”
Voss also rejected suggestions Curnow had been receiving pain-killing injections in his knee to train and play.
“You don’t need to know specifics, let’s just say he’s playing.”
Key defender Jack Silvagni has been named to return after missing the 60-point smashing by the Crows at Adelaide Oval.
Silvagni, who has been one of the Blues’ best players this season, broke his hand in the rousing win against Geelong a week earlier.
Jaxon Binns and Francis Evans were also named to return, with Lachie Fogarty (hamstring tightness), Matthew Carroll and Sam Docherty all going out of the side.
St Kilda rising star Mattaes Phillipou, who was a late withdrawal last week in what would have been his first game of the AFL season, has again been named to return.
At 3-5, Carlton need a response against the Saints after they regressed badly against the Crows.
After dropping their first four games, the Blues looked back to their best form that took them to the finals in the past two seasons.
“That’s probably why it makes it a little bit disappointing because we’ve made a lot of ground in a lot of areas and we weren’t able to get that done on the weekend,” Voss said of the performance against the Crows.
St Kilda are 4-4, after putting a disappointing three-week patch behind them to thump Fremantle in ruthless fashion last Friday night.
“We know they (St Kilda) set up really strong defensively behind the ball … we expect there’ll be a lot of numbers around the ball, and it will obviously be hard to score,” Voss said.
“We just have to be able to be patient and wait for our opportunities.”
AAP
