Sharks recruit’s Sunday oddity as he plans Punt Rd homecoming
ALMOST a decade to the day Jacob Townsend made his AFL debut for GWS, he will return to the MCG as Richmond’s Homecoming Hero for the round 2 clash against the Giants, just hours after taking on the Tigers at Punt Rd.
If that series of events has you scratching your head then spare a thought for Townsend, who could have something resembling whiplash come Monday.
Townsend will return to Punt Rd on Sunday for the first time since helping the Tigers to the 2019 VFL premiership, though this time in the Southport Sharks’ black and white.
The 62-game AFL journeyman, whose top-flight career came to an end after he was delisted by the Gold Coast Suns at the end of last season, will face his former VFL side for the first time since leaving in the 2020 off-season.
“(In 2020) at the Bombers I got knocked out the week before and had to serve my 12-day concussion protocol, so this will be my first time (facing Richmond),” Townsend told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
“After we won the 2019 VFL premiership, a fair few of the VFLlisted boys went elsewhere, so there’s probably only three or four on the list who were there at the same time as me.”
Townsend won the J.J. Liston Trophy as the VFL’S best and fairest player in 2017, while also breaking into the senior side late in the season and booting 11 goals in two games to lock down a starting spot as Richmond went on to win the AFL premiership.
Townsend earned himself cult
status among the Tigers faithful for his purple patch of form and ferocious tackling pressure.
It’s with those fond memories in mind, and Townsend’s link to the Giants, that led Richmond to welcome him back as its Homecoming Hero on Sunday.
But before then his job will be to knock the reigning VFL premiers off their perch at Punt Rd.
“I’m still looking forward to it, getting back to Punt Rd. Because it’s the AFL curtain raiser I’m sure there will be a fair crowd,” Townsend said.
“Being at four clubs, I’ve come up against my old mob a fair few times (in the AFL) and it’s always good fun. I always cop some stuff coming the other way.
“I’m hoping it’s not a hostile one – I think I’ll be right. I left on pretty good terms.”