“Our time to train is game day”: How the Southport Sharks matched it against full-timers

From tradesmen to social workers and businessmen, the Southport Sharks have proven a group of part-timers can match it with the best when they fight for a spot in the VFL grand final on Sunday.

From tradesmen to social workers and businessmen, the Southport Sharks have proven a group of part-timers can match it with the best when they fight for a spot in the VFL grand final on Sunday.

The Sharks will host the Gold Coast Suns at Fankhauser Reserve and are the only VFL team in finals not affiliated with an AFL club.

And former Richmond Tigers premiership player and Southport recruit Jacob Townsend, 29, is one of those now balancing a building career with football.

After being delisted by the Suns in 2021, four-club player Townsend started a new career journey in January with building company HNKN after working as a carpenter during his Richmond years.

“My old man has been a carpenter and a builder his whole life, so I’ve gone in his footsteps,” Townsend said.

Jacob Townsend. Photo: Southport Sharks.

In their second ever season of VFL football (with the 2021 season cancelled due to Covid), Southport finished third on the ladder from 13 wins and five losses.

But Townsend said it wasn’t without a great deal of dedication from the squad, with work often getting in the way.

“Obviously I was fortunate enough to play at the top level for 10 or so years, so I know what it's like to be at the club every day.

“It isn’t always out on the training track but there's a fair lot of other things that go into it to be a professional athlete, from game plans to media and the gym, watching tapes.

“This is my first season out (of the AFL system), so us being a semi-professional club that’s only been in the VFL for two years, the club hasn’t come up against these professional clubs throughout the years.

“In the small time that we do have together, we need to prioritise things and we can’t tick everything off that we’d hope to.

“Our time to train is out there on the field on game day.”

Like the majority of his teammates, Townsend leaves home at 5:45am in the morning and returns home from training around 8:30pm.

“On the days we do have training, some blokes are there late, early or have to come halfway through training because they’ve been caught at work.

“We’ve got sparkies, plumbers, chippies, people with office jobs that work up in Brisbane, and there’s some doing social work with underprivileged kids or disabilities.”

Townsend playing for the Southport Sharks. Photo: Deion Menzies / Highflyer Images

Despite the semi-processional status of the Sharks, it comes with no surprise the club have made finals with many of their key players having once been AFL listed, including Aiden Fyfe, Boyd Woodcock, Zac Foot, Max Spencer and Jay Lockhart.

And luckily for the Sharks, it appears the sunshine and warm weather may have enticed Townsend to stick around for a few years.

“Everyone always says once you come up here from Victoria, you never leave,” Townsend said.

“It’s a pretty good part of the world to work and live in, so I don’t see myself heading back to Melbourne any time soon, for a couple of years at least anyway.”