If you asked anyone before Round 23 who would be an important player for Richmond’s finals campaign, chances are that Jacob Townsend wouldn’t have even cracked a thought.
However, as the Tigers prepare to face the Cats in a monumental clash at the MCG next Friday night, the 187cm forward may cause Geelong the biggest grief of all.
How good has his form been?
Barring the small amount of games played, Townsend is in some elite company with Josh Kennedy and Joe Daniher as the only players to have kicked five goals or more in consecutive games this season.
Townsend was included into Richmond’s Round 22 team for their game against Fremantle, at the expense of valuable midfielder/ forward Josh Caddy, who suffered a hamstring injury.
Many expected Townsend, who had little impact in his 28 games for GWS, to be the fill-gap measure until Caddy resumed his position in the team.
The complete opposite occurred.
Townsend kicked a match-high six goals, collected 16 disposals and laid four tackles in a near best on ground display.
To prove his match against a hapless Fremantle outfit wasn’t a fluke, Townsend backed up his performance in resounding fashion.
In a critical contest against the Saints on the weekend, where Richmond needed a victory to ensure their first top-four finish since 2001, Townsend stood tall.
He again led the scorers with five goals, while also adding 13 disposals in his pressure forward role.
Although his performances would have come as a pleasant surprise, coach Damien Hardwick now has the unenviable task of deciding how to fit Townsend into the Tiger’s plethora of small forward options.
The conundrum being that Townsends eleven goals has to be enough to keep his position, but Josh Caddy is too important to leave out.
Whatever the selection may be, it’s exciting for Tigers fans to see how good the depth of it’s list is, ahead of the club’s most exciting month in recent history.
One thing for sure is although Townsend came to Richmond as a hard hitting, in and under midfielder, he now looms as one of the more important cogs in Richmond’s potent forward line.
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