Chad Townsend says the Sharks have been working hard to make sure they have alternative kickers if he is unable to get into position to take a field goal in front of the Melbourne Storm uprights on Friday night.
Townsend's kick from about 19 metres to the right of the Panthers sticks at Allianz Stadium in last weekend's semi-final gave the Sharks a 21-20 victory to keep them alive in the hunt for a second Telstra premiership grand final in three years.
Now preparing to take on the Storm at AAMI Park in Friday's preliminary final, Townsend has slotted over four field goals this year – but he's the only Shark to have success.
Storm No.6 Cameron Munster kicked the winning field goal against South Sydney two weeks ago (29-28) to give his team a week's rest. He and Cameron Smith have both kicked one-pointers in 2018, which prompts the question of who the Sharks have as a back-up?
"Moyza [Matt Moylan] can kick them, and he's beenpractising a lot. Even Val [Holmes] has beenpractising – he's got a really big boot on him," Townsend said.
Storm v Sharks - Preliminary Final
"We've got plenty of options there. We've trained in those scenarios all year, so we're ready to go if it's going to be a close game."
Three of the six finals held so far have been decided by field goals. Townsend knows their importance, so much so that he and Holmes created a competition at the end of each training week.
"I practise them all year as it's a big part of the game. Val and myself actually have a competition after every captain's run," he said before leaving Sydney airport on Thursday for Melbourne.
"I beat him today… it's definitely something you have to work on and I definitely put in the extra practise all this week."
The Townsend-Holmes weekly show-down comprises about 20 shots from all angles, from all distances, and with players running at them from the front and the sides.
"As you saw last week I hit a field goal not from the ideal spot. So you can't control that sometimes. You've just got to be cool under pressure and make sure your teammates know exactly what you're trying to do," Townsend said.
"At the end of the day, you've just got to nail it."
Secure a match ticket
A limited amount of tickets are still left to enjoy the 2018 Telstra Premiership NRL Grand Final. Don’t miss your chance to secure your seat via Ticketek HERE
Travelling for the grand final?
You can secure your tickets and travel all in the one place with ‘build your own’ packages still available HERE