NRL 2024: Cowboys halfback Chad Townsend to leave club, join Sydney Roosters in 2025

Cowboys playmaker Chad Townsend will finish his NRL career at the Sydney Roosters after agreeing to term with the Bondi club. See the full details of the deal.

Chad Townsend will quit the Cowboys at season’s end with the premiership halfback to ink a $300,000 deal to finish his career at NRL powerhouse Sydney Roosters.

This masthead can reveal Townsend has agreed terms on a shock move to the Roosters to continue his glittering NRL career at the Bondi glamour club on a one-year deal in 2025.

Off-contract at season’s end, Townsend had attracted interest from a number of clubs, with the Bulldogs and Super League club Catalans Dragons making a play for the 33-year-old.

But the Roosters have won the battle for his signature as coach Trent Robinson looks to bolster the Chooks’ scrumbase stocks following the impending departure of veteran playmaker Luke Keary.

The Roosters are keen for an experienced head to help mentor rising halves Sam Walker and Sandon Smith and Townsend, a seasoned professional who steered Cronulla to the 2016 premiership, ticks that box.

Former Cowboys co-captain Townsend is eyeing a career swansong at title contenders the Roosters, who will formalise a 12-month deal in the next 24 hours.

Townsend has enjoyed a successful three-year stint at North Queensland, playing a key role in the club’s resurgence and fairytale charge to the preliminary final in his first season in the tropics in 2022.

Chad Townsend is in talks to join the Roosters next season. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

But with the Cowboys battling salary-cap pressures, the club is keen to promote youth at the scrumbase, prompting Townsend to seek a return to Sydney for a Roosters cameo.

Cowboys football boss Michael Luck confirmed Townsend is leaving the club and said the 257-game veteran would be a handy signing for any potential NRL suitor.

“Chad is a champion bloke, he is so professional and he understands how this game works,” Luck said.

“We told Chad last week that there would be nothing here for him unfortunately with the salary cap.

“We brought him here for three years to do a job and he has a chance to finish on a really good note.

“He has mentored our younger blokes and done a great job, Tom Duffy is shooting the lights out in the Queensland Cup. Jake Clifford is a more mature player since coming back and Tommy Dearden is now an Origin player, so we can’t have asked anymore of him.

“The level of maturity and calmness he has brought to our team over his team here has been amazing. We are a much better club for having him as a part of it and we are a better team when he is on the park.

Jaxon Purdue is a player of the future for the club. Picture: NRL Photos

“Chad has been a great leader, so we were very lucky to have him here.”

It’s understood Townsend is keen for a role in the media in retirement and that was also a factor in his decision to return to Sydney.

Townsend, who turns 34 in January, is prominent on social media and is expected to have a 12-month swansong at the Roosters before planning to move into a commentary role.

While Walker and Smith are still top playmaking priorities for the Roosters, Townsend is happy to play a mentoring role and is the perfect back-up option should an injury crisis strike at Bondi.

Townsend hopes to finish with a premiership at the Cowboys and Luck paid tribute to the halfback’s team-first attitude.

“Chad has been around a long time,” Luck said.

“He has won a premiership, so he knows what successful clubs look like.

“I have never come across a player as mentally resilient as Chad, regardless of how things are going on and off the field, his attitude never changes and he drives his teammates to be better every day.

“There were a few factors with Chad (leaving).

“Salary cap was one of them, but we are confident in our young halves, they have served an apprenticeship and we feel guys like Tom Duffy, Jake Clifford and Jaxon Purdue are ready to take the next step.

“Tommy Dearden is one of the best young playmakers in the game. It will be sad to see Chad go, but we are grateful for his time here and hopefully he can finish on a good note here.

“If you had 30 guys in the squad with Chad Townsend’s attitude, you wouldn’t lose many games.”