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McKay won the Coleman Medal without Curnow in 2021, Curnow took the next two Colemans with McKay stricken with conversion aversion (aka, the yips) and a loss of confidence.

Over the past three seasons, Curnow averages 2.7 goals when playing alongside McKay and 3.6 when Harry is missing. McKay, meanwhile, averages 1.9 goals with Curnow and 3.1 when Charlie is grounded.

Somehow, the fact that both players kick more goals when they’re solo led to a conclusion – admittedly, a minority view – that the Blues would improve their flag prospects by selling McKay and letting Curnow hold up the forward line, potentially deploying Tom De Koning as the second tall target (and back-up ruck).

McKay’s yips persisted in 2023, when he snagged a modest 29 goals from 77 shots – a dismal accuracy percentage of 37.7. At times, he seemed uncertain about whether he would use a Stevie (Johnson) J-hook from an angle or deploy the drop punt – an issue he said he had worked on over summer.

Had McKay found his range, he’d have gone close to 50 goals, which would have produced an aggregate of 130 goals from the tandem.

On Friday night, the combination of Curnow and McKay was beyond the scope of the Lions’ defence. Harris Andrews played 96 minutes on McKay, which meant Jack Payne had to take on Curnow.

Charlie’s four goals either side of half-time resulted in the Lions sending Darcy Gardiner back (Gardiner had been playing forward) to stand the superstar, while Andrews stuck with McKay.

Aided by this double threat, the Blues booted seven goals from just 14 entries in the third quarter.

The against-all-odds triumph highlighted that McKay and Curnow have different styles and dimensions – the former a hulking 200-centimetre giant, the latter a super athlete with rare agility and lateral movement. Hardly any rival teams have two key defenders with the necessary traits and talents to match both at once.

Richmond, for example, would much prefer to play the Blues next Thursday without one of McKay or Curnow; they would be asking too much of Josh Gibcus, a talented kid who hasn’t filled out, to expect him to play a key role.

McKay isn’t in the top five key forwards in the game, no. Curnow is probably the best. Put Harry on the block, though, and a dozen or more clubs would be in the queue.

Curnow’s athleticism enables him to get goals in the air (he led the league in contested marks last year), on the deck and by drawing frees. Of his 81 goals in 2023, 47 came from marks.

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In the Carlton set-up, he should be comparable to Geelong’s Jeremy Cameron, and McKay to the hulking Tom Hawkins (not that he’s at Hawkins’ level). One is an athlete, with a serious ground game plus excellent foot skills, while the other is a mountain who requires a near 200cm opponent. Curnow isn’t as exquisitely skilled as Geelong’s Jezza, but his aerial game is superior.

For the Blues, Curnow can play higher up the field if necessary, as McKay keeps a tall back such as Andrews occupied. Ideally, the tandem work best when they’re surrounded by smalls and medium-sized options, rather than with De Koning as a third banana.

The slights on McKay have been a familiar case of critics – and I’ve not been immune – focusing too much on his foibles and forgetting his considerable strengths.

To have two menacing key forwards in one forward line is a major point of difference between the Blues and at least 16 clubs, and on Friday evening, it made all the difference.

It is the responsibility of Carlton’s coaches, as much as the players themselves, to make the combination work. As the Gabba miracle showed, the most critical step is for McKay to come to the party.