NRL 2022: Cowboys star Chad Townsend breaks silence on Cronulla Sharks exit
He helped the Sharks win their maiden premiership, but by 2021 it was clear to Chad Townsend he was on the outer. Now he could help end Cronulla’s premiership hopes for 2022.
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Chad Townsend says he is primed to end his six-year premiership drought as the Cowboys co-captain lifted the lid on his real reason for quitting Cronulla ahead of Saturday night’s grudge match at Shark Park.
The Cowboys-Cronulla qualifying final will provide one of the most explosive narratives of the playoffs when Townsend returns to face the very Sharks club he helped to a historic premiership in 2016.
Townsend played 146 games for the Sharks and had visions of finishing his career in the Sutherland Shire, but there came a moment last season when the playmaker shaped as a “dead-man walking” at Cronulla.
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Townsend had an option in his contract to remain at Cronulla this season. Privately, a high-level faction at the Sharks were weighing up his future at the club, at a time when the Cowboys were craving a senior, cool-headed game manager to steer North Queensland through troubled waters.
The planets aligned, with Townsend tearing up the final year of his Sharks deal to ink the three-year, $2.1 million extension that has emphatically transformed the Cowboys into a top-four team this season.
Townsend was the first halfback in 50 years to win a title at Cronulla - and now the 31-year-old wants to emulate Johnathan Thurston by claiming a premiership ring at the Cowboys.
“There is no better feeling in football than winning a premiership,” Townsend said.
“As NRL athletes, you play the game since you were a young kid and you dedicate and sacrifice so much of your life to get to where you are.
“You can’t do certain things most people do if you want to play NRL and when you win a comp, it’s like all the hard work, all the sacrifice is worth it.
“There is no better feeling than a team coming together to achieve a premiership.
“It’s been a long six years since I achieved that at Cronulla and I want to have that feeling again at the Cowboys.”
Townsend’s management vividly recalls the political machinations that led to the playmaker’s exit at Cronulla.
On April 3 last year, Townsend starred for the Sharks in a 48-10 caning of the Cowboys in Sydney. Within 48 hours, Townsend was meeting with Cowboys coach Todd Payten and football boss Micheal Luck at a Sutherland Shire cafe as North Queensland made furtive moves to poach him from the Sharks.
The halfback heist was, ironically, aided and abetted by the Sharks.
“The reality was Chad was a dead-man walking at Cronulla,” said his manager Chris Orr of PSM.
“Their coach at the time, John Morris, was a fan of Chad, but there were others in positions of power that thought he was done as a playmaker.
“Chad was Cronulla’s player of the year in 2019, but within a couple of years there was a feeling he was coming to the end at Cronulla.
“The timing of the Cowboys’ interest couldn’t have been better.
“I never had a single doubt Chad would succeed at the Cowboys because he is like an on-field coach. He is cool and calm and he simply steers the bus, which relieves pressure on the rest of his teammates and allows the game breakers to shine.”
A mid-season transfer to the Warriors last season was regarded as the final nail in Townsend’s playmaking NRL coffin.
Carrying a shoulder injury that required painkilling injections, Townsend played just five matches for the Warriors. He lost all five games.
But a move to the tropics has sensationally reignited the spark in Townsend. Often viewed as an honest game manager, the 31-year-old has turned game breaker this season, amassing 19 try assists and 14 line-break assists to catapult the Cowboys from second last to title contention.
Now, true to script-writing heaven, a revitalised Townsend returns to the Shark Park turf he knows so well hellbent on haunting the Cronulla club he once steered to the holy grail.
“It’s a ground where I have a lot of fond memories,” he said.
“I feel like I know the field and the conditions well and I’ve still got mates at the Sharks, but once we step across that line, I’m out there to win it.
“It was my call to decline my player option at the Sharks and take a chance with the Cowboys.
“When I met with Todd Payten, Micheal Luck and Dane Campbell (Cowboys recruitment chief), they pitched to me what they wanted from me.
“I remember going home from that meeting and speaking to my wife. I said, ‘I can be that guy for them. Exactly what they want, a senior playmaker to be a leader, I can deliver that for them and that appealed to me.”
In pre-season, Broncos legend Corey Parker, now a Fox Sports commentator, dropped a bombshell on the Cowboys by ripping into Townsend, saying he hadn’t played good football since winning a title at the Sharks in 2016.
Some of Parker’s critique had merit, but Townsend’s form this season is beyond question. As he approaches his 32nd birthday, he says he has rarely been more content in his 216-game career.
“This is up there with the best I’ve ever played,” he said. “A lot of my form goes back to our pre-season, the standards we set and what Todd (Payten, coach) said would be acceptable to the Cowboys this year.
“To be honest, I don’t need external forces to find my motivation. My motivation comes within.
“I feel like I’ve faced all the ups and downs that this game has to offer. I’m still standing at the Cowboys ... and I have plenty left in the tank.”
It is a tribute to Townsend’s character and professionalism that the Cowboys opted to sign him ahead of another premiership-winning playmaker.
“We had our eyes on both Adam Reynolds (ex-Souths halfback now at the Broncos) and Townsend actually,” Cowboys coach Payten said.
“We felt that Adam’s contract situation would have taken a lot longer to play out and after having a chat with Chad, I was really impressed with him.
“Chad has been outstanding. He is like another coach for us out on the training pitch. He is very clear with his talk and direction. He tells the forwards what he wants and they enjoy getting clear instructions from him.
“The leadership he has provided with his talk and direction out on the park mirrors the enormous efforts he goes to off the field to promote and grow our club.
“We brought Chad to be a leader and that’s exactly what he’s provided us.”
‘YOU PLAYED SH**’: COWBOY INSPIRED BY BROTHERLY LOVE
—Travis Meyn
Cowboys wrecking ball Luciano Leilua says polarising brother Joey is driving his blossoming NRL career with some brutal brotherly love.
Leilua will make his second appearance in an NRL finals series when North Queensland tackles Cronulla at PointsBet Stadium on Saturday night.
It has been a dream move to Townsville for Leilua, who made a mid-season switch to the Cowboys from the Tigers before Wests went on to claim the dreaded wooden spoon.
Leilua, 26, inked a three-year deal with the Cowboys from 2023 in November last year, long before the 2022 NRL season kicked off.
The Cowboys attempted to lure him north earlier, only for the Tigers to reject multiple requests until they finally yielded and granted Leilua an early release in June.
Leilua went straight into North Queensland’s 17 and hasn’t missed a game since debuting for the Cowboys in round 16.
And blunt appraisals of his performances from older brother Joey – who had a colourful 225-game NRL career – are keeping Leilua accountable.
Joey, who now plays for English club Featherstone Rovers, was rarely far from controversy during a 12-season NRL career with the Roosters, Knights, Raiders and Tigers.
And he doesn’t mince his words when it comes to evaluating his younger brother.
“He always messages me to tell me I’ve played sh**,” Leilua said.
“He never says I’ve played good. He always keeps me on my toes.
“I definitely look up to him. He is one of my heroes along with my dad.
“I use him a lot for advice. I miss him and hopefully I make the Samoa squad so I can go over there (England World Cup) and see him.”
But first, Leilua has an NRL premiership to win with the Cowboys.
The bustling backrower last featured in a finals series for the Dragons in 2018 and now he wants to help his new club go on a fairytale run following a strong regular season which saw the Cowboys finish third.
“I’ve walked into a team that’s all about hard work, competing and effort,” Leilua said.
“That’s how they’ve built their game since the beginning of the year. I’ve been able to walk in and just do my job.
“We can definitely win the comp. We’ve just got to keep playing our game and take it week by week.
“Everyone’s goal is to win the comp and if you’re not believing in that then what’s the point of even playing? We think we can win but we’ve got to focus on each day and game.
“I think the Cowboys will definitely take me to the next level. They’ve made my game really simple.
“I just need to get out there, run hard and tackle hard.”
Unlike some players looking to switch clubs, Leilua wasn’t agitating for a release from the Tigers.
After losing Heilum Luki to a season-ending knee injury, the Cowboys realised Leilua could play a key role in their 2022 premiership quest and managed to get a deal done with the Tigers.
Leilua said it was difficult watching his former teammates fumble their way to the wooden spoon with some heavy defeats in the final rounds of the season, but he was loving life in Townsville.
“It was tough watching them but I didn’t look back too much,” he said.
“I’ve tried to focus on my new team and new home here. I’m still close with some of the boys there, but that chapter is closed and now it’s a new chapter.
“I needed a change of scenery. The Cowboys have a good young squad and I felt like we could go all the way. It felt like it was the right decision for me and my family.
“It was weird (arriving mid-season) but they’ve been terrific. The boys up here are mad and have been welcoming.
“I’m hoping they’re loving my energy.”
‘CHOP IT OFF’: COWBOY WAS WILLING TO SACRIFICE TESTICLE
Cowboys star Tom Dearden was willing to “chop off” his ruptured testicle to lead North Queensland’s premiership charge.
Dearden will make his NRL finals debut in Saturday night’s showdown with Cronulla in Sydney as coach Todd Payten declared the underdog Cowboys can upset the Sharks.
Despite finishing third on the ladder following a stellar regular season, the Cowboys have been written off by many ahead of the qualifying final at Cronulla’s intimidating home ground.
But what the Cowboys’ critics have failed to respect is just how far Payten’s troops are willing to go to bring a second NRL premiership home to Townsville.
None sum up North Queensland’s commitment more than Dearden – who was willing to sacrifice a testicle to gear up in this year’s finals series.
Dearden, 21, suffered the painful injury in North Queensland’s round 23 game against the Warriors and was facing the prospect of a month on the sidelines, depending on the extent of surgery required.
But in a remarkable show of commitment to the Cowboys’ cause, Dearden was willing to sacrifice a testicle to feature in the finals.
“He made a ball and all tackle on Jack Murchie in the Warriors game close to the tryline and stopped him dead,” Payten told The Courier-Mail’s NRL Finals Lunch on Tuesday at Suncorp Stadium.
“While he was making contact up top, Jack’s knee made contact down bottom. He mentioned at halftime he copped a whack and didn’t say anything after the game.
“He turned up to our recovery session the next day and one side was triple the size of the other. From there he went for a scan and four hours later he was having surgery.
“The first thing he said to surgeon was ‘if I’m going to miss a month of football you’re going to chop it off’.
“I was gobsmacked when I heard that, but that’s how much rugby league and finals means to him. I don’t think they would have let him do it, but he puts the team first and really wants to play finals.
“He is a great kid, tough competitor and he’s one of the reasons we are where we are.”
Luckily for Dearden, and his future prospects of becoming a father, his damaged testicle was saved and he only missed one game, returning in last week’s 38-8 thrashing of Penrith.
The Cowboys have been the NRL’s most improved club of 2022 – rising from 15th last year – and Queensland’s only team in the finals following the Brisbane Broncos’ dramatic implosion.
A win against the Sharks will deliver the Cowboys a preliminary final in Townsville – a huge advantage which would put them in the box seat to qualify for the October 2 grand final.
While they will start outsiders against Cronulla, Payten said the Cowboys believed they could go all the way and clinch the club’s first premiership since the 2015 maiden triumph.
“For the players, the message for the last month has been that our best game is good enough,” he said.
“The players believe, as do I, that we have the game, character, resilience, talent and squad to get it done.
“It all starts on Saturday. We’re really excited.
“Our playing group are a terrific bunch. They’re terrific men and I’m really proud of the quality of people we have in that group.
“I’m having as much fun as they are. It’s a great opportunity for us.”
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