Canberra Raiders reportedly interested in signing Chad Townsend

[zim]

1. Wighton
6. Sezer
7. Townsend
9. Hodgson

Improves fullback and 5/8. I can see why they want to do it. Not the quality signing we'd be hoping for though.

[BadnMean]

Well did you want a solid defensive half who does his bit in attack/kicking or not?https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/05/23/sta ... es-a-myth/

He's better than Sezer, Jack can go back to being Jack (an elite FB unless you are blind muppet) and you can pick a combo of the best of three of Sezer, Williams, Townsend...

If it happens, it's a huge win. Don't kid yourselves. Even if you think he's on par with Sezer do you want Sezer A who's won the comp or Sezer B who has done squat?

[gerg]

If it's a choice between picking up Townsend and picking up nobody it makes sense to grab him while we can. His addition would improve our side (not massively but...) and it's a cunning ploy from the games greatest thinker - to stockpile all the goalkickers in the competition.

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[LP Raider]

I thought we had no money.

In any case GE is right how can a club under investigation for rorting the cap, trump others.

They should be forced to release Johnson.

[-PJ-]

A clause in Townsends contract that once fortnight he returns to Sydney to visit his hairdresser...

[Bay 67]

Seen this one before... next line is "Raiders deny interest in Townsend, have full confidence in Sezer and Wighton".

Narrator: "But did they?"

[Botman]

He is a better player than Sezer for sure.

I would bet all the money in the world that in an alternate reality where Sezer is at the sharks and chaddy T with us, you’d be saying the reverse

It’ll never not be wild to me that people have bemoaned every half that Stuart has ever coached, and not figured out that he’s the common denominator

[Rickmando]

Anyone who thinks that signing chad Townsend is a good allocation of money under our salary cap is mired in the same mediocrity of mindset as those who run the club.

I know it’s been years since we had an exciting, major signing.
I know he’d slightly improve on what we have.
I know he’s been in a premiership winning side.

But bringing him in and paying him in desperation because he’s all that’s available, likely on a multiple year deal that not just ensures we are hard up against the cap this year, but in the next few years when far superior halfbacks become available on the market and we once again don’t have the financial flexibility to go and set them???!!! Just ridiculous short term, mediocre, unambitious thinking.

And also, why would we let Cronulla off the hook? They’ve got themselves into this mess... you tell them the negotiations are for Johnson (who we originally wanted) or no-one

[FuiFui BradBrad]

Doesn't he really sport your No. 1 hairstyle Fui? Come on... admit it!

It’s a neat style. I couldn’t rock it though. My style is more wash it and apply gel the night before, sleep on it, then live with however it looks when I wake up.

I think Rick Kelly wears his style better though

[Rickmando]

He is a better player than Sezer for sure.

I would bet all the money in the world that in an alternate reality where Sezer is at the sharks and chaddy T with us, you’d be saying the reverse

It’ll never not be wild to me that people have bemoaned every half that Stuart has ever coached, and not figured out that he’s the common denominator

D.o.H!!!!

[julian87]

A premiership winning half back with a clam temperament and kicking game. And people are saying no.
He is an upgrade with what we have. Not much of an upgrade but it’s slim pickings really.


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Shane Perry was one of these as well. Having won a premiership doesn’t automatically make you a better player than someone who hasn’t.

[Bay53]

Fenton.... FENTON!

Sorry. Autocorrect got me. Of course I meant Shaun Fensom.

[Bay53]

If it dislodged Shaun Johnson for us fine... but if it dislodged Chad Townsend... we're no better off.

Disagree. It puts Townsend in the halves and Wighton back to full back. And we get him with 5 months of the 2019 rugby league year already gone and paid by someone else.

[Bay53]

If we are fair dinkum about getting him, potentially having his premiership dummy half on the coaching staff is not a bad thing to try and get him.

True, I hadn’t thought of that.


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His brother in law played here too before going back to Cronulla.

[Peter]

Hang on....

Chad Townsend is a better halfback than Sezer and a better 5/8th than Wighton and you blokes are saying no to the idea? Are we going to hold off until a Shaun Johnson comes on to the market so we can miss out again?

1. Wighton
6. Sezer
7. Townsend

Looks a hell of a lot better than what we have now.

[Rickmando]

Hang on....

Chad Townsend is a better halfback than Sezer and a better 5/8th than Wighton and you blokes are saying no to the idea? Are we going to hold off until a Shaun Johnson comes on to the market so we can miss out again?

1. Wighton
6. Sezer
7. Townsend

Looks a hell of a lot better than what we have now.

Short term thinking though. Why take another clubs cast-off? Why not actually plan and prepare for how we get ahead of the other 15 clubs in the comp, rather than be reactive and settle for mediocrity once again??

[Peter]

Hang on....

Chad Townsend is a better halfback than Sezer and a better 5/8th than Wighton and you blokes are saying no to the idea? Are we going to hold off until a Shaun Johnson comes on to the market so we can miss out again?

1. Wighton
6. Sezer
7. Townsend

Looks a hell of a lot better than what we have now.

Short term thinking though. Why take another clubs cast-off? Why not actually plan and prepare for how we get ahead of the other 15 clubs in the comp, rather than be reactive and settle for mediocrity once again??

The last big name half we signed was Matt Orford. But you keep holding on to hope that we will get one someday. And in the meantime we will continue with playing our fullback at 5/8 and a half who shows up for 3 weeks of the season.

[luke]

Do we need a superstar though? We made a prelim final with Sezer and Austin.

[Roger Kenworthy]

He is a better player than Sezer for sure.

I would bet all the money in the world that in an alternate reality where Sezer is at the sharks and chaddy T with us, you’d be saying the reverse

It’ll never not be wild to me that people have bemoaned every half that Stuart has ever coached, and not figured out that he’s the common denominator

You're probably right on the first point.

As for the other I'd say it's widely accepted that Stuart is another level of trash at coaching with regards to halves. The two halves who have gone well under Stuart are Fitler and Kimmorley, they are also the only two he has coached in his ballpark with regards to skill. Even then Kimmorley was inconsistent between years.

Sezer certainly made a mistake coming to the Raiders. I'd suggest his two-year extension last year suggests he has played himself out of the plans of rival clubs over the past three years.

I just find him personally very disappointing as his first few games for us were quality.

[Woodgers]

I'm not bagging Townsend as he is a competent 1st grader (nothing more), but how exactly would adding him in now assist with our main onfield goal this season to tighten the defence, particularly in the line? I think people get so fixated on what a player does with the footy in hand that they completely forget that it is one half of the game. We've spent an offseason preparing to play with Jack at 5/8, not because he is going to be the 2nd coming of Laurie Daley, because we need a player who can defend in the spot which has been our most vulnerable over the past few seasons. Give him a go there and work to the plan.

I wouldn't be entirely against Townsend but by the same token i'm not sure shoehorning anyone that is a 'name' or regular 1st grader at NRL level is worthy to walk into a starting position at the Raiders when it's debatable if it would actually improve the side overall looking at the most important aspects of our game that we need to fix. As others have expressed time and time again, it is this kind of mentality which is why we are who we are. We need to be better than settling for everyone else's leftovers.

Edit: I just checked and Townsend was 8th in the NRL for average most missed tackles at 3.9 a game. Those stats can be misleading though but worth mentioning in relation to this post.

[Hazza]

I'm not bagging Townsend as he is a competent 1st grader (nothing more), but how exactly would adding him in now assist with our main onfield goal this season to tighten the defence, particularly in the line? I think people get so fixated on what a player does with the footy in hand that they completely forget that it is one half of the game. We've spent an offseason preparing to play with Jack at 5/8, not because he is going to be the 2nd coming of Laurie Daley, because we need a player who can defend in the spot which has been our most vulnerable over the past few seasons. Give him a go there and work to the plan.

I wouldn't be entirely against Townsend but by the same token i'm not sure shoehorning anyone that is a 'name' or regular 1st grader at NRL level is worthy to walk into a starting position at the Raiders when it's debatable if it would actually improve the side overall looking at the most important aspects of our game that we need to fix. As others have expressed time and time again, it is this kind of mentality which is why we are who we are. We need to be better than settling for everyone else's leftovers.

Edit: I just checked and Townsend was 8th in the NRL for average most missed tackles at 3.9 a game. Those stats can be misleading though but worth mentioning in relation to this post.

Can't agree more. Great post.

I'm indifferent to the possibility of signing Townsend. He won't hurt but but he won't greatly improve us either imo. Btw how I laugh when people continually trot out 'he's won a premiership', as if being in a premiership winning side automatically makes you a great player. Andrew Fifita single handedly won the sharks that gf. Had zero to do with Chad. a lot of ordinary players have won premierships.

[Braddrew]

I wouldn't be holding out hope for Johnson.
I heard from a board member that we never seriously considered signing him because of his asking price.

[Rickmando]

Hang on....

Chad Townsend is a better halfback than Sezer and a better 5/8th than Wighton and you blokes are saying no to the idea? Are we going to hold off until a Shaun Johnson comes on to the market so we can miss out again?

1. Wighton
6. Sezer
7. Townsend

Looks a hell of a lot better than what we have now.

Short term thinking though. Why take another clubs cast-off? Why not actually plan and prepare for how we get ahead of the other 15 clubs in the comp, rather than be reactive and settle for mediocrity once again??

The last big name half we signed was Matt Orford. But you keep holding on to hope that we will get one someday. And in the meantime we will continue with playing our fullback at 5/8 and a half who shows up for 3 weeks of the season.

So we shouldn’t be aspirational? We should just take rejects from other clubs whilst they sign the elite players? You’re suggesting we should just give up and settle for always being also-rans?

We are in a competition with 15 other teams - if we are not trying to be better than them, then there’s no point us even existing in the competition.

[LastRaider]

Townsend is underrated, he is a premiership halfback and proven NRL first grade half.

As we know, we don’t have any money so I would be more than happy to sell Sezar and bring in Townsend if we had too.


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[Timbo]

I'm not bagging Townsend as he is a competent 1st grader (nothing more), but how exactly would adding him in now assist with our main onfield goal this season to tighten the defence, particularly in the line? I think people get so fixated on what a player does with the footy in hand that they completely forget that it is one half of the game. We've spent an offseason preparing to play with Jack at 5/8, not because he is going to be the 2nd coming of Laurie Daley, because we need a player who can defend in the spot which has been our most vulnerable over the past few seasons. Give him a go there and work to the plan.

I wouldn't be entirely against Townsend but by the same token i'm not sure shoehorning anyone that is a 'name' or regular 1st grader at NRL level is worthy to walk into a starting position at the Raiders when it's debatable if it would actually improve the side overall looking at the most important aspects of our game that we need to fix. As others have expressed time and time again, it is this kind of mentality which is why we are who we are. We need to be better than settling for everyone else's leftovers.

Edit: I just checked and Townsend was 8th in the NRL for average most missed tackles at 3.9 a game. Those stats can be misleading though but worth mentioning in relation to this post.

Great post. Sums up my feelings exactly.

I think Townsend as a player is fine. He improves on what we currently have. But is he going to be enough of an improvement that he's worth signing on the eve of the season to completely disrupt what our backs have been preparing for all summer? And is he going to be the solution to our larger issues? On these points I have to lean towards no.

[Danaman137]

Townsend is underrated, he is a premiership halfback and proven NRL first grade half.

As we know, we don’t have any money so I would be more than happy to sell Sezar and bring in Townsend if we had too.


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Doubt we’d be able to offload Sezer this close to the season. He’s not exactly setting the world on fire for any team to want him 3 weeks before the start of the season, and swapping him with Townsend wouldn’t solve the Sharks salary cap issue


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[LastRaider]

Townsend is underrated, he is a premiership halfback and proven NRL first grade half.

As we know, we don’t have any money so I would be more than happy to sell Sezar and bring in Townsend if we had too.


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Doubt we’d be able to offload Sezer this close to the season. He’s not exactly setting the world on fire for any team to want him 3 weeks before the start of the season, and swapping him with Townsend wouldn’t solve the Sharks salary cap issue


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Brisbane maybe? There short a half and Sezar was a junior there a long time ago I think


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[Sid]

pretty sure I heard NZ say that they'll either start with Adam Keighan or CHT.. IF they don't sign a halfback

[Danaman137]

Don’t think he ever spent any time in Brissy. Bulldogs junior then went to Titans from there.
Seibold has been blowing smoke up milford and nikorima’s *** in the press too so I doubt they’d make a change.
I’d also hate this as I hate seeing any former Raider in a broncos jersey. Milf was bad enough. Fensom will break my heart.


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[BadnMean]

I'm not bagging Townsend as he is a competent 1st grader (nothing more), but how exactly would adding him in now assist with our main onfield goal this season to tighten the defence, particularly in the line? I think people get so fixated on what a player does with the footy in hand that they completely forget that it is one half of the game. We've spent an offseason preparing to play with Jack at 5/8, not because he is going to be the 2nd coming of Laurie Daley, because we need a player who can defend in the spot which has been our most vulnerable over the past few seasons. Give him a go there and work to the plan.

I wouldn't be entirely against Townsend but by the same token i'm not sure shoehorning anyone that is a 'name' or regular 1st grader at NRL level is worthy to walk into a starting position at the Raiders when it's debatable if it would actually improve the side overall looking at the most important aspects of our game that we need to fix. As others have expressed time and time again, it is this kind of mentality which is why we are who we are. We need to be better than settling for everyone else's leftovers.

Edit: I just checked and Townsend was 8th in the NRL for average most missed tackles at 3.9 a game. Those stats can be misleading though but worth mentioning in relation to this post.

He concedes the least line breaks and try causes of any NRL half...

[simo]

I dont mind chad and do not really want to sign him. Hes not going to come in and improve our side at this point. If we’d signed him up at the end of last year then great, but we’ve moved our pieces around already and i think we’re best off running with the halves we have unless we can sign a Shaun Johnson calibre player.

[Zip Zip]

A premiership winning half back with a clam temperament and kicking game. And people are saying no.
He is an upgrade with what we have. Not much of an upgrade but it’s slim pickings really.


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Sounds a lot like some other guy we once signed... A certain agitator... For privacy's sake, let's call him Matt O. No, that's too obvious... Lets' say M Orford.

[Sid]

Wasn't there a rumour about Raiders being interested in Townsend months ago?
I feel like that article is referring to that before Raiders had moved Wighton to 5/8

[Danaman137]

Should SJ be pushed out, would his entire contract be thrown out? Or would a deal be done where the Sharks pay just enough to be cap compliant when he goes somewhere else? Since cap space is obvs an issue for us, I’m hoping it’s the latter.


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[Timbo]

Should SJ be pushed out, would his entire contract be thrown out? Or would a deal be done where the Sharks pay just enough to be cap compliant when he goes somewhere else? Since cap space is obvs an issue for us, I’m hoping it’s the latter.


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Good question.

Best to push SJ out, strip the Sharks of their premiership and move them to Perth to be safe.