Chad Townsend (born 10 January 1991) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who co-captains and plays as a goal-kicking halfback for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL. He previously played for the Warriors and for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks over two separate spells in the National Rugby League. Townsend has also played at representative level for NSW City. He was part of the Cronulla team that won their maiden premiership title in the 2016 season, the only local junior player in that team.