Elijah Taylor leads list of NRL players making most of mid-season moves
June 9, 2016 5:56pm
NICK WALSHAW
The Daily Telegraph
Elijah Taylor was done the moment he opened his eyes.
It was Sunday.
Game day.
The bedside alarm buzzing early because, well, this Penrith outcast had to haul north for a NSW Cup game on the Central Coast, against Wyong.
“But for the first time ever,’’ Taylor recalls, “I didn’t want to play.
“Had no motivation at all.
“That’s when I knew things were bad. Actually, I knew it was really bad.”
And to understand why, you must understand Taylor. Knowing that for as long as this Taranaki product can remember, game day wasn’t something he wanted, but willed on.
“It was all I knew,’’ he says.
“All I wanted.”
Right up until it wasn’t.
Which as he says, was a bad scene.
For until that morning, Taylor had been vowing to hang in. For how else does one earn 100 NRL games? Or 10 Test caps for New Zealand?
And so, early on, he persisted, despite having become the guy who simply held tackle pads during the Panthers ballwork sessions.
Same deal when after three or four weeks of that, the 26-year-old was then banished from first grade runs altogether.
“But still, I obeyed,’’ he insists.
“I listened, trained hard, played hard in reserves.
“Did everything they asked.
“But then, again, I was holding tackle pads.
“I just wasn’t what they wanted.”
So he left.
“Which felt strange,” Taylor insists.
“But that’s the NRL now. Everything can change so quickly.”
Can’t it what?
Only weeks after being convinced his NRL career was over — with manager Ian Miles told to switch his attention to Super Rugby clubs — Taylor is suddenly back.
Not simply playing first grade, but emerging as a key member of the Wests Tigers pack that on Friday night faces South Sydney at ANZ Stadium.
Indeed, within the space of 33 days, Taylor has become the unwitting poster boy for Club Chameleon.
A group of unwanted, unreliable, even unusual men who, just like that old world lizard, are changing their colours to survive.
Take Chris Grevsmuhl, the Bunnies forward who rallied against the “mind games” of coach Michael Maguire. Or Konrad Hurrell, who partied once too often in Auckland.
Peter Mata’utia wanted back in with family. Junior Paulo, out from Sydney’s underbelly.
While as for hooker Nathan Peats … well, how can one sentence explain the abomination which forced him from Parramatta?
Yet still, here they are.
An NRL Dirty Dozen.
A band of renegades which, in no particular order, also includes Joseph Tapine, Ryan Morgan and Brendan Elliot. Then Matthew Wright, Shaun Lane and Raymond Faitala-Mariner.
Different men. Different stories.
Yet all united by the one hope.
“Fulfilling your potential,’’ Taylor explains.
“I’m not sure there’s a worse feeling anywhere than knowing your promise is going unfulfilled.”
Certainly, he should know.
A Test forward at 21, Taylor signed with Penrith two years back because coach Ivan Cleary was a huge fan of his attacking flair. And for a while, it worked. Taylor performing so strongly, many tipped him for the Panthers captaincy in 2016\. But then, last October, Cleary was axed. And while a lack of Wi-Fi saw Taylor, holidaying in the Cook Islands, go a fortnight without the news, he sure understood upon return.
Quizzed on new coach Anthony Griffin, he says: “It was made clear immediately that my style wasn’t wanted.
“(Griffin) wanted his lock to be an aggressor. Big shots in defence, big carries in attack. But that isn’t me. And it isn’t the way I’ve played my first 100 NRL games.”
Still, as always, Taylor had a crack.
“That’s why I was in the reserves,’’ he continues.
“The coach had a plan to make me more aggressive and I was, I felt, going towards that.
“And all credit to NSW Cup coach Steve Georgallis. And the players.
“They did everything they could. Just as I did everything I could.
“But then we got to Round 10 and I was still in reserves.”
So he jumped.
Joining Wests Tigers on Monday, May 9, his debut came six days later. Beginning an immediate change which, by week three, would see Taylor earn man of the match in a Brisbane upset. But as for his greatest lesson from the preceding eight months?
“Humility,’’ the backrower says.
That, and a strengthened faith.
For while athletes routinely thank God after kicking the goal, sinking the putt, winning the game, know that Taylor was giving praise right when it seemed his NRL career was finished.
Each week, he and a small group of Panthers gathering, bibles in hand, to discuss scripture.
“And that faith,” he says, “it got me through.’’
Same deal the more recent morning sessions where, with coffee in hand, Taylor has arrived at Tigers HQ hours before training to study tape.
“Not watching opposing players,’’ he says.
“But teammates. Learning favoured lines, how they receive the ball, everything. Because being successful, it’s all about how much you want it. And I need this.”
So no fears?
“It isn’t like I woke up one day and couldn’t play,” Taylor shrugs.
“I haven’t forgotten what’s required, either. I didn’t suit at Penrith, that’s it. But now I have a coach with confidence in me. Someone who trusts me. And that backing, it’s all I can ask for. All I want is the opportunity to prove my potential.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/elijah-taylor-leads-list-of-nrl-players-making-most-of-midseason-moves/news-story/2f44a104bad2dd5cb6474efdfcca7b11
June 9, 2016 5:56pm
NICK WALSHAW
The Daily Telegraph
Elijah Taylor was done the moment he opened his eyes.
It was Sunday.
Game day.
The bedside alarm buzzing early because, well, this Penrith outcast had to haul north for a NSW Cup game on the Central Coast, against Wyong.
“But for the first time ever,’’ Taylor recalls, “I didn’t want to play.
“Had no motivation at all.
“That’s when I knew things were bad. Actually, I knew it was really bad.”
And to understand why, you must understand Taylor. Knowing that for as long as this Taranaki product can remember, game day wasn’t something he wanted, but willed on.
“It was all I knew,’’ he says.
“All I wanted.”
Right up until it wasn’t.
Which as he says, was a bad scene.
For until that morning, Taylor had been vowing to hang in. For how else does one earn 100 NRL games? Or 10 Test caps for New Zealand?
And so, early on, he persisted, despite having become the guy who simply held tackle pads during the Panthers ballwork sessions.
Same deal when after three or four weeks of that, the 26-year-old was then banished from first grade runs altogether.
“But still, I obeyed,’’ he insists.
“I listened, trained hard, played hard in reserves.
“Did everything they asked.
“But then, again, I was holding tackle pads.
“I just wasn’t what they wanted.”
So he left.
“Which felt strange,” Taylor insists.
“But that’s the NRL now. Everything can change so quickly.”
Can’t it what?
Only weeks after being convinced his NRL career was over — with manager Ian Miles told to switch his attention to Super Rugby clubs — Taylor is suddenly back.
Not simply playing first grade, but emerging as a key member of the Wests Tigers pack that on Friday night faces South Sydney at ANZ Stadium.
Indeed, within the space of 33 days, Taylor has become the unwitting poster boy for Club Chameleon.
A group of unwanted, unreliable, even unusual men who, just like that old world lizard, are changing their colours to survive.
Take Chris Grevsmuhl, the Bunnies forward who rallied against the “mind games” of coach Michael Maguire. Or Konrad Hurrell, who partied once too often in Auckland.
Peter Mata’utia wanted back in with family. Junior Paulo, out from Sydney’s underbelly.
While as for hooker Nathan Peats … well, how can one sentence explain the abomination which forced him from Parramatta?
Yet still, here they are.
An NRL Dirty Dozen.
A band of renegades which, in no particular order, also includes Joseph Tapine, Ryan Morgan and Brendan Elliot. Then Matthew Wright, Shaun Lane and Raymond Faitala-Mariner.
Different men. Different stories.
Yet all united by the one hope.
“Fulfilling your potential,’’ Taylor explains.
“I’m not sure there’s a worse feeling anywhere than knowing your promise is going unfulfilled.”
Certainly, he should know.
A Test forward at 21, Taylor signed with Penrith two years back because coach Ivan Cleary was a huge fan of his attacking flair. And for a while, it worked. Taylor performing so strongly, many tipped him for the Panthers captaincy in 2016\. But then, last October, Cleary was axed. And while a lack of Wi-Fi saw Taylor, holidaying in the Cook Islands, go a fortnight without the news, he sure understood upon return.
Quizzed on new coach Anthony Griffin, he says: “It was made clear immediately that my style wasn’t wanted.
“(Griffin) wanted his lock to be an aggressor. Big shots in defence, big carries in attack. But that isn’t me. And it isn’t the way I’ve played my first 100 NRL games.”
Still, as always, Taylor had a crack.
“That’s why I was in the reserves,’’ he continues.
“The coach had a plan to make me more aggressive and I was, I felt, going towards that.
“And all credit to NSW Cup coach Steve Georgallis. And the players.
“They did everything they could. Just as I did everything I could.
“But then we got to Round 10 and I was still in reserves.”
So he jumped.
Joining Wests Tigers on Monday, May 9, his debut came six days later. Beginning an immediate change which, by week three, would see Taylor earn man of the match in a Brisbane upset. But as for his greatest lesson from the preceding eight months?
“Humility,’’ the backrower says.
That, and a strengthened faith.
For while athletes routinely thank God after kicking the goal, sinking the putt, winning the game, know that Taylor was giving praise right when it seemed his NRL career was finished.
Each week, he and a small group of Panthers gathering, bibles in hand, to discuss scripture.
“And that faith,” he says, “it got me through.’’
Same deal the more recent morning sessions where, with coffee in hand, Taylor has arrived at Tigers HQ hours before training to study tape.
“Not watching opposing players,’’ he says.
“But teammates. Learning favoured lines, how they receive the ball, everything. Because being successful, it’s all about how much you want it. And I need this.”
So no fears?
“It isn’t like I woke up one day and couldn’t play,” Taylor shrugs.
“I haven’t forgotten what’s required, either. I didn’t suit at Penrith, that’s it. But now I have a coach with confidence in me. Someone who trusts me. And that backing, it’s all I can ask for. All I want is the opportunity to prove my potential.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/elijah-taylor-leads-list-of-nrl-players-making-most-of-midseason-moves/news-story/2f44a104bad2dd5cb6474efdfcca7b11
