If Cronulla are to win their first premiership on Sunday it will mean so much to so many people – but none more so than Chad Townsend.
Townsend grew up in the shire and played his junior footy at the Yarrawarrah Tigers. And he honed his craft as a Sharks junior.
The 25-year-old gets to live a childhood dream. He will run out in front of 80,000 fans and play a grand final wearing his beloved black, white and blue.
Townsend has been one of Cronulla’s unsung heroes since returning to the shire this season, leading the side around the park with maturity, control and authority as the Sharks went on an incredible club record 15-game winning streak and battled for the minor premiership.
But the decision to come home had been a difficult one.
A serious illness in the family saw Townsend request a release from his contract with the New Zealand Warriors, saying at the time he was grateful to Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan for giving him the opportunity.
Now, the former Junior Kangaroos captain is one game away from a premiership with his boyhood club.
“I’d be lying if I said I haven’t [dreamed of this],” he said.
“Obviously it’s been well documented the Sharks haven’t won a premiership [so] to be in there and have a chance [of winning one] is really exciting.”
Townsend had one of his best games of the season as he and halves partner James Maloney led Cronulla to a convincing 32-20 victory over reigning premiers North Queensland in the preliminary final to set up the decider against Melbourne.
The pair have quickly developed one of the strongest halves combinations in the competition and Townsend said the former Roosters premiership winner had helped make him a better player.
"I probably thought it would take more than a year to get our combination fully grown,” he said.
“He’s got a lot of big game experience and that's something I've drawn off him. He's played Origin and grand finals and to me, at the clutch moments, he's really there for me.
“I'm really trying to learn off him in those moments.”
Flanagan, who has known Townsend since he was a teenager, is an unabashed fan of his halfback but made the tough decision to hook him during Cronulla’s qualifying final win over Canberra. That decision may prove to be the making of Chad Townsend.
"You have to take it as a man,” Townsend said.
“It's a man’s game. Sometimes things don't go your way. It's about how you respond.”
