Travis Boak has called out his former teammate and mentor Kane Cornes for his controversial views on Carlton young gun Charlie Curnow and his dedication to his rehabilitation, while the young Blue has also had his say.

It appears Curnow won’t feature for the Blues until the second half of the season, with the club refusing to commit to a timeline for their emerging star, who’s recovering from a broken patella in his knee.

The 23-year-old’s 2019 campaign ended prematurely because of knee issues, with a casual game of basketball in October and a slip walking up the stairs in November only exacerbating Curnow’s issues.

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Writing for SEN, Cornes declared that Curnow had let Carlton – and its supporter base – down.

“The Carlton fans who inject thousands of dollars into the Carlton coffers each year have a right to be livid,” Cornes said.

“The AFL Players Association are wrong to encourage its players to engage in dangerous activities off the field under the guise that they need to live a balanced life.

Charlie Curnow will miss the start of Carlton’s 2019 campaign.

“There are sacrifices that you must make as a highly paid profession athlete. If you want to skydive, snow ski, water ski, be a motor cross riding or a V8 racing car driver that’s fine, but wait until you are 30 and your time in the game is finished.

“Curnow has let his club, teammates and supporters down.”

But speaking to Nine News Melbourne, Curnow said he’d brushed off Cornes’ criticism.

“I actually didn't know much about it until one of my mate sent me a message this morning. It is what it is and I can't really do much about it so it's fine,” Curnow said.

“It's all good. I've got good people around me. (Cornes) is just doing his job and I'll do mine.”

Travis Boak claps back at Kane Cornes …

… and sticks up for Charlie Curnow.

Cornes has established his brand on making strong and assertive calls on how he sees the game and the players within it, but those views have perennially opened the premiership player to criticism.

And on this occasion it came from his former teammate Travis Boak, who he mentored when the midfielder joined the Power back in 2006.

“That is just so wrong,” Boak wrote on Twitter in response to Cornes.

Curnow said the delayed start to the season had been “a little bit frustrating but I've just got to focus on things I can control”.

“I'm working with the boys inside and hopefully try get back quicker than expected,” Curnow said.

“Nothing's really changed since the first call so I've just got to take it week by week and see where it leads.”