If comfort with your home life has any impact on the NRL field, Warriors five-eighth Chad Townsend should be about to hit new heights.

Townsend struggled to adjust when he left his Cronulla home of 22 years to join the Warriors in Auckland this season, and lost his position when Thomas Leuluai returned briefly from injury.

But a second chance arose when Leuluai was again injured and his partnership with halfback Shaun Johnson has been an effective one for the Warriors under new coach Andrew McFadden.

Townsend said part of his struggle was due to leaving his friends and family behind, but he had slowly adjusted to Auckland as well as the Warriors.

“To just get up and move country, I’ve left all my good mates, my family and my partner behind. It’s been hard at times but my concentration and my focus on football has definitely kept me on the right track,” he said.

Now, he’s expecting another boost – his girlfriend Marissa is about to join him in Auckland, having secured a job after a few months of trying.

“I can’t wait. She’ll settle me down a little bit more and I’ll look forward to spending more time with her, showing her what this beautiful city has to offer.”

Townsend’s attention is on Sunday’s home clash with Penrith, who sit second on the NRL table behind Manly on points differential.

“They don’t have the most star-studded line-up but they’ve got a full team of players that just go out there and consistently do their job,” Townsend said.

“We’re going to have to be up for a good game and looking forward hopefully to another good crowd here at Mt Smart.”