Townsend was snapped up by the Suns with pick five in the AFL Pre-Season and Rookie Draft on Thursday afternoon.

It ended weeks of speculation that the Suns were interested in Townsend, after he was delisted by the Bombers last month.

Townsend was cut by Essendon after just one season, where he played in 12 of the Bombers' 17 games for the year.

Townsend was rapt to given another chance by the Suns.

"I'm really looking forward to getting here and meeting all the boys and hopefully I'm here for a long time," Townsend told Gold Coast Suns' website.

"There's a couple of boys up here which I already know which will make it a bit easier so I'm looking forward to that.

"This list is a pretty young list so I'm looking forward to coming in and trying to show them a few things which I've learnt over the years both on and off field."

Gold Coast will be Townsend's fourth home at AFL level.

He started out as a foundation player at Greater Western Sydney (GWS), where he played 28 AFL games across four seasons.

Townsend then spent four seasons at Richmond, where he was part of their 2017 premiership, kicking 16 goals in five games late in the season as part of the Tigers' charge to the flag.

Townsend, 27, now joins the Suns with 60 AFL games and a premiership under his belt.

The Suns are keen to add his experience and hardness to their young list.

"We're really happy to be able to secure a quality person like Jacob in the rookie draft and we know he will be a great addition to our group," Gold Coast national recruiting manager Kall Burns told the Suns' website.

"Jacob has been in the AFL system for nine years, is a premiership player and has experience at the highest level which complements our list."

The recruitment of Townsend comes after Gold Coast picked up highly-rated Wodonga teenager Elijah Hollands with their first selection, pick number seven, in Thursday night's AFL Draft.

No Riverina teenagers were picked up in the drafts for the fourth straight year.

READ MORE