Actor and Cronulla Sharks fanatic Brendan Cowell has ripped into halfback Chad Townsend after his effort in the Sharks' disappointing 26-22 loss to the Newcastle Knights on Firday.
Speaking on SEN's NRL Crunch Time, Cowell disagreed with Joel Caine’s assessment that Townsend deals with a lot of scrutiny over his performances.
“I think he flies under the radar a little bit,” Cowell said.
“He missed a few tackles last night (on) Ponga and things like that, I don’t know if he has a lot of strike.”
Cowell jokingly suggested the Broncos should make a play for Townsend in order to keep Shaun Johnson as the Sharks first-choice number seven.
“I tend to think if you look at the Sharks and all these players we’ve gotten rid of over the years he seems to have his position locked,” he added.
“There’s never a discussion about de-‘Chad’-ing the Sharks.”
Former League winger Eric Grothe Jr. responded to Cowell, calling Townsend a “solid player".
“There’s not a lot of half-backs is there,” Cowell added.
“So if you’re solid, you’re suddenly an 8/10.”
Cowell’s brutal comments come as the Sharks deal with losing their coach John Morris, who was sacked by the board just five games into the season.
In positive news for Sharks fans, interim coach Josh Hannay was hopeful post-match that former Golden Boot winner Shaun Johsnon will be able to return to the side next week against the winless Canterbury Bulldogs.