Midway through 2024, with retirement at the forefront of his mind, Chad Townsend received a call from Trent Robinson.
“The opportunity to join the Roosters doesn’t happen every single day,” Townsend recalled on Thursday.
The proposition came with a caveat, one that would have been hard to swallow for most premiership winners: you’ll be our third-string half.
“I knew where I stood from day one,” Townsend said.
“From the very first meeting it was clear to me what my role would have been, that Sam Walker and Sandon Smith were going to be the first-choice halves. That didn’t change my desire to join the team.
“I was very clear of what my role was from the very first moment.”
That role has radically changed. Two months after signing a one-year contract, on the eve of last year’s finals series, disaster struck.
Chad Townsend helped end Cronulla’s long premiership drought in 2016.Credit: Getty Images
Walker, in a seemingly innocuous contest for the ball against Canberra, went down like he was shot, with a knee injury that ended his 2024 season and will keep him out for a significant portion of the current campaign. Walker’s then halves partner, Luke Keary, left the club soon afterwards, while another member of the spine, Brandon Smith, is also in the injury ward.
All of a sudden, Townsend has gone from back-up drummer to the Roosters’ frontman.
It begs the question, can the combination of Townsend and Smith – the journeyman veteran and the emerging youngster – steer the Roosters to glory?
The fact the Roosters had a shot at signing want-away Dragon Ben Hunt, before he was eventually snapped up by the Broncos, suggests that even those within the walls at Bondi Junction aren’t sure.
Townsend and Smith will play for the first time together in a trial on Sunday, against the equally unproven Dragons halves pairing of Lachlan Ilias and Kyle Flanagan.
In his 30 NRL appearances to date, Smith has been the starting half on only 11 occasions. Which is why he will be leaning on the experience of former Cowboys, Sharks and Warriors offsider Townsend.
Sam Walker’s boots will be tough to fill in 2025 after he suffered a knee injury at the end of last season.Credit: NRL Photos
“Chad’s been awesome,” Smith said. “He brings such calmness and experience to the team; he’s such a smart footballer, he’s done everything in the game.
“Just his ability to talk and get across things and how he wants us to play. When he speaks I feel like everyone listens.
“He’s been really good for the team and also for me individually, he’s been able to help me in a lot of areas.”
The narrative surrounding the Roosters is more about who is not there than who is. Smith and Walker won’t be back on deck for months, while Keary, Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii, Joseph Manu, Terrell May, Sitili Tupouniua and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves have all left.
The only notable purchase is Townsend, who must follow in the footsteps of Keary, Cooper Cronk, Mitchell Pearce, Brad Fittler and Braith Anasta.
Not that Townsend is perturbed.
The Roosters are putting a lot of faith in Sandon Smith in 2025.Credit: Getty Images
“There is pressure,” he said. “I mean, I wore the No.7 at the Cowboys after Johnathan Thurston, you know what I mean?
“I don’t really focus too much on pressure or expectation or things that I can’t control. The things that I’ve always focused on in my career are how do I carry myself, how do I train, how do I prepare and then, ultimately, I’ll be judged on how I play.
“A lot of people are focusing on what we have lost and the experience. And yeah, it is a lot. But internally, we’re focusing on what we do have, and we’ve got a lot of young guys who are very hungry, who are just champing at the bit to get an opportunity to play in the NRL and show what they can do.”
Thurston has also had an effect on Smith’s career. A rare Roosters junior, who came through the club’s Central Coast pathway system, Smith has borrowed from the Maroons great.
“He’s a freak; he’s probably the best,” Smith said of Thurston. “Essentially, he picked the right option every time, which I sort of see now in Nathan [Cleary].”
It’s now up to the Roosters halves to take the right options. At some point Walker will return, and it is the job of Smith and Townsend to ensure the team remains in premiership contention when that happens.
Not a day goes by that the Roosters aren’t linked to a big-name player: Dylan Brown, Mitchell Moses, Kalyn Ponga. Often there is little substance to go with the speculation. But unless the Roosters playmakers can prove they are up to it, that will only continue.
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