There are only two players to have played 100 games as halfback for the Cronulla Sharks.
One is Brett Kimmorley. The other is Chad Townsend.
Townsend was able to celebrate the milestone on Saturday as Cronulla produced a Jekyll and Hyde performance to defeat Gold Coast at Shark Park.
It was a proud day for the Yarrawarrah Tigers junior who grew up in the shire, dreaming of one day running out wearing the black, white and blue in first grade for Cronulla.
It has been some career for Townsend. Vastly underrated, he will always have a place in the club's history as their first premiership-winning halfback.
Sharks CEO and former player Barry Russell presented Townsend with his jersey before the game and let slip to Townsend the history he now shared with former Test halfback Kimmorley.
"I thought that was pretty cool. It's probably something I'll look back on once my career is done and think it's very cool. Obviously you dream just to play one game. So I'm very grateful," Townsend said.
"It is [illustrious company]. You take a minute to reflect on that and you think it is quite an achievement. And it's something I am definitely proud of. My dream growing up was just to play one game in the Sharks colours. To play 100 is something I'm very proud of.
"I think it's just come from hard work and putting my head down. From when I was a young kid I always wanted to play footy for a living. And I've been able to play in some big games that I'm very, very grateful for. And it's just reward I guess for the sacrifice and dedication you make to play in the NRL. So I'm very proud of that."
The Sharks were resilient in defence against the Titans, continually either turning the visitors away from their line or holding them up over it.
Cronulla were also slick in attack in the first half, making the most of their opportunities before producing a flat, untidy performance after half-time.
But Townsend said he was encouraged by some aspects of Cronulla's link up play which looks to be coming to life with Townsend and the dangerous Shaun Johnson and Matt Moylan.
"At times today it felt really good. It felt like we were clicking. We were able to put some tries on in terms of us three linking up and passing the ball to each other. And executing some of the plays we've been training all off-season was very rewarding to see," he said.
"Obviously in the second half we probably fell away from the game plan, [we were] a bit willy nilly with the footy [which] made our completion rate pretty low. That sort of hurt us in the end.
"But it's exciting, we've still got work to do but it's definitely a work in progress and something we need to continue to work hard at."
