NRL star Chad Townsend bumps into a CROCODILE as he gets in a round of golf in North Queensland

Premiership-winning NRL halfback Chad Townsend had a close encounter of the reptile kind while playing golf with his North Queensland Cowboys teammates in Townsville recently.

The halfback bravely snapped a picture of himself beside a water trap at a Townsville golf course with a crocodile sunning itself right behind him. 

Townsend poses with the crocodile, a new experience for the former Cronulla halfback

Townsend is well known for his love of vlogging and has his own YouTube channel detailing his journey in North Queensland, along with the Playrs Golf Club Facebook page where he shares videos of the Cowboys exploits on the fairways of Townsville.

Joining him in the videos are teammates including representative stars Valentine Holmes  and Kyle Feldt and livewire fullback Scott Drinkwater.

Playrs is the golfing brand that is set to be launched soon by Townsend, Holmes and Drinkwater. 

While most of the videos and images are highlight reels of their best shots, the halfback recently posted a close encounter he had with a crocodile near a water trap at a Townsville golf course.

It may seem shocking to anyone who’s not from North Queensland, but for those who were born and bred in the tropics the sight of crocodiles living on golf courses is actually quite common.

Freshwater crocodile as large as two metres long are often seen sunning themselves at the various courses in North Queensland – especially during the cooler months.

‘There’s mosquitoes, crocodiles … it’s a funny part of playing golf in North Queensland,’ one local told the Townsville Bulletin after spotting a 1.5 metre ‘freshie’ at Willows Golf Course.

While the reptiles may look imposing, freshwater crocodiles are considered harmless to humans and live on a diet of insects, frogs, birds and turtles.

Their saltwater cousins, however, are considered highly dangerous and will attack livestock, pets and humans if they enter their territory.

 Townsville has been an instrumental force behind the Cowboys resurgence this and spoke to Fox Sports about why he opted out of his final year at Cronulla to move his young family north.

Townsend scores a try during the round 23 NRL match between the North Queensland Cowboys and the New Zealand Warriors at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, on August 19

‘It really appealed to me and I left that meeting, went home to my wife and I just said I can do exactly what they want me to do and you know within a week later I signed the contract and declined my option and that’s how it played out.

 ‘It was such a big decision like I said my home, my family, my friends, my wife’s family, my wife’s friends they’re all in the Shire and the easy thing for us to do would have been to say no and take up my option in Cronulla I was comfortable, but we chose the hard way, we chose to move.’

Since then, Townsend has made every move a winning one in the tropics of North Queensland.

The veteran half has laid on 19 try assists, 12 line break assists, earned a call-up to the New South Wales State of Origin squad and has been a steady hand in developing young halves partner Tom Dearden to steer the Cowboys to second place on the NRL ladder. 

And it came after experts tipped the Cowboys to run stone motherless last in this year’s competition. 

‘I think from that first initial meeting, hearing Todd speak and his vision for the club and him speaking about the roster and the youth within that side and the fact that they wanted me to come in and help out with some leadership and experience, that really appealed to me,’ he said.

‘I looked at the roster and I saw some really talented guys like a lot of them, early twenties and a lot of them are still at the very start of their career. 

‘I knew that I could come in and help, I guess guide these guys into the right direction on the field and give them the chance to reach their potential.

‘Like I said I know who said what and again I understand how the media works and I understand that people they want to create headlines with wanting to pick people to come last but for me it motivated me.’