Former Port Adelaide premiership player, Kane Cornes has questioned Charlie Curnow's professionalism.
The high-flying 22-year-old dislocated his kneecap playing a non-competitive game of basketball with Blues teammates and will undergo an operation.
“I can’t believe Charlie Curnow has been playing basketball in his off-season with the history of knee issues he has had,” he told Telstra AFL Trade Radio.
Curnow played 11 games in 2019 missing games with persistent knee injuries interrupting him.
“It feels to me like every third week, he’s carrying a knee complaint, he always plays with strapping, you’d think if you’ve got any concerns with your knees, you would not be playing basketball in the off-season.
“Now he’s dislocated his kneecap. I know for a fact Warren Tredrea had massive issues with that injury over the course of his career to the point where he just could not get back.
“He just wasn’t the player he was when he was a four-time All-Australian because his kneecap kept slipping out.
“So hopefully for Charlie that’s not the case, he’s younger as well, but certainly his pre-season is going to be ruined.”
Former Richmond and Western Bulldogs coach, Terry Wallace had a more lenient view on the issue.
“I cut him a little bit more slack than that, they’ve still got to be able to live their lives to a degree, but what I do agree with is if he does have knee issues, that just takes it out of the equation,” Wallace said.