Blues star Curnow’s trade request denied

Carlton superstar Charlie Curnow’s request for a trade away from the Blues has been flatly rejected by the club.

The star forward told the Blues of his wish to move to another club at his exit interview on Thursday. But he was told that he would not be traded, according to three competition sources with knowledge of the situation.

Curnow did not specify a destination, but the view has long been that he would be most amenable to a move to Sydney, Geelong or Gold Coast.

The Blues are holding firm, knowing that Curnow is contracted for a further four years on more than a million dollars a season.

He is a two-time Coleman medallist and one of the game’s premier key forwards, but had an injury-interrupted pre-season in 2025.

Though Carlton were firm in denying Curnow’s request on Thursday, a trade is not completely out of bounds. The Blues would likely entertain an offer from one of those clubs if it was for one of the absolute A-grade players, such as Swans Errol Gulden, Isaac Heeney or Chad Warner, or Geelong’s Max Holmes – which appears improbable at this point.

The Blues have indicated they would not consider lesser players.

They have already lost two high-profile players. The club confirmed on Wednesday that ruckman Tom De Koning was leaving the club to join St Kilda as a free agent, while defender Jack Silvagni is also on the move as a free agent, to either Collingwood or the Western Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, Carlton are closing in on Port Adelaide’s Chris Davies to be the club’s next football boss.

Two club sources confirmed to this masthead on Thursday that Carlton have held informal discussions with Davies and have made it clear he is their No.1 priority to replace outgoing head of football Brad Lloyd.

Davies is understood to be considering his options after a disappointing year at Port. The Power slumped to a 13th-place finish in Ken Hinkley’s final year as coach following a preliminary final appearance in 2024.

Davies, a close friend and ally of Hinkley, is viewed as one of the premier football bosses in the competition and would be a significant coup for the Blues, who are in the middle of significant change under new CEO Graham Wright.

Earlier this week, the Blues said farewell to Aaron Greaves – Michael Voss’ right-hand man who also worked under Davies at Port Adelaide – assistant coach Aaron Hamill and development coach Tom Lonergan.

Davies started at Port Adelaide ahead of the 2015 season and worked extensively with Voss when he was an assistant under Hinkley.

It has been a year of change for Carlton, who have a new president, chief executive and soon football boss in that time.

But the Blues ended heavy speculation earlier this month when they committed to Voss as coach for 2026. Voss was under pressure to keep his job despite being contracted into next year as the club’s board met shortly after Melbourne sacked Simon Goodwin as coach.

Club sources indicated the Blues want to hire Davies in the coming days so that he can be a significant part of the upcoming trade period, where they will lean on his experience.

On Thursday, Carlton announced three players would not be offered contracts for 2026 – Orazio Fantasia, Harry Lemmey and Alex Cincotta.

Davies has been contacted for comment.

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