‘He’s a massive presence’: Why Swans recruit Curnow is already being compared to Franklin

Charlie Curnow has only been in Sydney for four weeks, but Errol Gulden is already seeing similarities between the two-time Coleman medallist and former Swans superstar Lance Franklin.

Sydney secured Curnow from Carlton on the final day of the 2025 trade period, giving up forward Will Hayward and first-round draft picks in 2025, 2026 and 2027. Former Swans defender Ollie Florent was also later traded to Carlton, after 184 games in red and white.

Curnow will get an early opportunity to reunite with former colleagues on the field when the Swans take on Carlton in the opening round of the AFL season on March 5 at the SCG. Judging by what he has seen during the last month in pre-season training, Gulden is expecting something special from Curnow against his former team.

“He’s just come in and he’s telling us what he wants, which is something pretty new – like where he wants the ball to go and how he wants us to play and deliver the ball inside 50 to him,” Gulden said.

“And I guess, similar to Lance [Franklin], he’s just a massive presence and, obviously, he’s a pretty big unit ...

“And I think we’re going to have hopefully a four-headed monster down there with the key forwards we’ve got. And I’m assuming most weeks that Charlie will have the oppo’s best defender on him and I think that’ll do wonders for the other forwards, too.”

Hayward kicked the second most goals (29) for the Swans in 2025, behind midfielder Isaac Heeney (37), leaving plenty of room for a key forward.

Beyond Curnow, Gulden is looking forward to seeing his close friend Logan McDonald return to the field after missing the whole of last season due to injury.

McDonald endured surgeries on his ankle and the fibula bone in his leg, but has returned to full training for Sydney’s pre-season, and Gulden believes the forward can rediscover the sort of form that produced 37 goals in the 2024 season.

“He’s been flying,” Gulden said of McDonald. “I think there hasn’t been much spoken about him, but I’m pretty happy to keep it that way because I think he’ll be a bit of a secret weapon for us this year.

“People will kind of forget with him not playing any footy last year how much of a weapon he is for us. And obviously having Charlie here is going to help him out, too. He’ll learn from him. But he’s looking really good on the track.”

Callum Mills continues to recover from a minor hamstring strain, with Gulden describing his captain as “one of the most amazing leaders you could ever think of”. Asked whether captaining the Swans is a goal, Gulden revealed it was something he’s working towards while learning under Mills and other senior players.

“Yeah, definitely, it’s something I’m working on consciously, and I look up to Millsy, I look up to Ramps [Dane Rampe] and boys like this around the club,” Gulden said.

“They’re great examples for me of what I want to strive to be like when I’m a little bit older, so it’s a challenging thing being a leader, it’s extremely hard.

“You’ve got to always be setting the right example and know the right time to say the right things. So it’s something I’m definitely working on, and I’ve got a lot of scope to improve.”

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