happy_tiger
Well-known member
@Twodogs said:
Caps seem to tighten up for the 18 months after a team has been busted
OFFICIAL Elijah Taylor [Discussion]
- Thread starter MightyTiger
- Start date
Caps seem to tighten up for the 18 months after a team has been busted
jirskyr
Well-known member
@Fade To Black said:
Lawrence ran 3 or so outside balls last Friday. Two of them were good ones, almost outside his man (he was aiming at Morgan) one he got cut down pretty hard. Brooks loves an outside ball but his pass selection is what leaves a lot to be desired.
Taylor was an absolute beast throughout - so glad we secured him.
I liked Lawrence on Friday night - i thought he looked sharp and ran and defended with intent. Like others have suggested I too am not sure that he can do that for the full 80, but at this point he's ahead of the youngsters on show. I thought Masters didn't quite find his feet and young Sirro was only just OK, however he did try hard. MCK provided a decent option and also has great utility value off the bench.
Concerned me to see Sue and Ava's attempt close to the line on half time. I'd like a stat on how many times we let in cheap points with less than 5 minutes to go before the break. Last season we lacked any urgency defending in our 20 metre zone - hopefully that doesn't continue this year.
I liked Lawrence on Friday night - i thought he looked sharp and ran and defended with intent. Like others have suggested I too am not sure that he can do that for the full 80, but at this point he's ahead of the youngsters on show. I thought Masters didn't quite find his feet and young Sirro was only just OK, however he did try hard. MCK provided a decent option and also has great utility value off the bench.
Concerned me to see Sue and Ava's attempt close to the line on half time. I'd like a stat on how many times we let in cheap points with less than 5 minutes to go before the break. Last season we lacked any urgency defending in our 20 metre zone - hopefully that doesn't continue this year.
jirskyr
Well-known member
@TigerSJ said:
I agree, I have major concerns with Sue's ability to stick in tackles. He's strong enough and can put on good shots, but at times he seems to have a granite shoulder and bounces right off. Reminds me of the issues Akauola had in effecting tackles.
GNR4LIFE
Well-known member
LANGUISHING in reserve grade at the Panthers, Elijah Taylor’s confidence was so broken he started to wonder if his whole career was a fluke.
Yes, he’d played more than 100 first grade games. Sure, he’d represented his country in 10 Test matches.
But so utterly had his game been pulled apart and deconstructed by new Penrith coach Anthony Griffin, it’s no wonder the deep thinking lock started to go just a little bit insane.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘have I fluked it’ or ‘maybe I just got here because I was in a team of good players and they made me look better than I am’, or ‘maybe I just chanced this’,” Taylor reveals to foxsports.com.au.
“You start doubting your ability, you start to wonder if you’ve got it anymore.
“Maybe it’s too fast for me — honestly these doubts start creeping into your head even though I was used to playing 80 minutes week-in, week-out.”
So it had been under the coaching of Ivan Cleary, who put enormous trust in the ability of his skilful forward.
For two years, whenever Cleary picked a side Taylor was one of the first on the teamsheet.
His sudden and unexpected sacking whipped a wind of change through the Panthers locker room, with a number of senior players quickly finding themselves on the outer under the new regime of the man they call ‘Hook’.
Taylor was one of them, with Griffin asking him to strip out the subtlety in his game and become a one-man tackling machine — no more fancy stuff.
It was a ‘who am I’ sort of moment for Taylor, who nonetheless attempted to fall in line and change his game.
“That’s what everybody (at Penrith) thought was all I was capable of doing, tackling and doing hit ups — that’s all Anthony Griffin wanted me to do,” Taylor said.
“So I was working on that as hard as I could and trying to do that as well as I could but I was still playing reserve grade.”
It was then that Taylor started thinking about a serious career change.
Right up until he was 18, Taylor had been a rugby union player and he started to talk to his management about going back to his first love.
Negotiations got serious and he was all set to farewell the NRL and sign a deal that would have taken him to the 15-a-side game, starting this year.
It was at the final hour that Wests Tigers got involved, with coach Jason Taylor starting the slow process to rebuild the confidence that had deserted his recruitment target.
“Just the coach saying I’m going to put you straight into first grade and you’re going to play 80 minutes,” Taylor (the player) says when asked what convinced him to grab his NRL lifeline.
“Just him saying that, I was like ‘well, sweet, I’ll do that’. Sometimes it’s all a player needs, is the confidence of their coach to say something like that, and my confidence came back.”
The Tigers mentor saw more than just a robotic hit up and tackle machine in the Kiwi international.
No, if he was going to make the move to Concord it was going to be with the understanding that his role was to ballplay in the middle and at times take the pill off precocious young halves Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses.
Not an easy thing for a coach to ask. Even more difficult for the new guy to deliver without causing ructions within the playing group.
“I love ball playing, it’s cool. That’s one of the first things JT talked about when I first met him over coffee,” Taylor reveals.
“Most halves want to be at first receiver and have the plays run through them but Moses and Brooks said ‘no, no, I’ll play off the back of you’.
“It’s a massive help because it would have been hard playing in a team where the halves wanted to be the ballplayers all the time.
“Credit to Mitchell and Luke for giving me the opportunity.”
So far it’s worked out. A penny for Griffin’s thoughts if Taylor lays on the winning try when the two sides clash this Sunday.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/tigers/nrl-2017-elijah-taylor-reflects-on-wests-tigers-rebirth-ahead-of-clash-with-penrith-panthers/news-story/e5516a6d35b8752459153d3d5824ccd6
Yes, he’d played more than 100 first grade games. Sure, he’d represented his country in 10 Test matches.
But so utterly had his game been pulled apart and deconstructed by new Penrith coach Anthony Griffin, it’s no wonder the deep thinking lock started to go just a little bit insane.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘have I fluked it’ or ‘maybe I just got here because I was in a team of good players and they made me look better than I am’, or ‘maybe I just chanced this’,” Taylor reveals to foxsports.com.au.
“You start doubting your ability, you start to wonder if you’ve got it anymore.
“Maybe it’s too fast for me — honestly these doubts start creeping into your head even though I was used to playing 80 minutes week-in, week-out.”
So it had been under the coaching of Ivan Cleary, who put enormous trust in the ability of his skilful forward.
For two years, whenever Cleary picked a side Taylor was one of the first on the teamsheet.
His sudden and unexpected sacking whipped a wind of change through the Panthers locker room, with a number of senior players quickly finding themselves on the outer under the new regime of the man they call ‘Hook’.
Taylor was one of them, with Griffin asking him to strip out the subtlety in his game and become a one-man tackling machine — no more fancy stuff.
It was a ‘who am I’ sort of moment for Taylor, who nonetheless attempted to fall in line and change his game.
“That’s what everybody (at Penrith) thought was all I was capable of doing, tackling and doing hit ups — that’s all Anthony Griffin wanted me to do,” Taylor said.
“So I was working on that as hard as I could and trying to do that as well as I could but I was still playing reserve grade.”
It was then that Taylor started thinking about a serious career change.
Right up until he was 18, Taylor had been a rugby union player and he started to talk to his management about going back to his first love.
Negotiations got serious and he was all set to farewell the NRL and sign a deal that would have taken him to the 15-a-side game, starting this year.
It was at the final hour that Wests Tigers got involved, with coach Jason Taylor starting the slow process to rebuild the confidence that had deserted his recruitment target.
“Just the coach saying I’m going to put you straight into first grade and you’re going to play 80 minutes,” Taylor (the player) says when asked what convinced him to grab his NRL lifeline.
“Just him saying that, I was like ‘well, sweet, I’ll do that’. Sometimes it’s all a player needs, is the confidence of their coach to say something like that, and my confidence came back.”
The Tigers mentor saw more than just a robotic hit up and tackle machine in the Kiwi international.
No, if he was going to make the move to Concord it was going to be with the understanding that his role was to ballplay in the middle and at times take the pill off precocious young halves Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses.
Not an easy thing for a coach to ask. Even more difficult for the new guy to deliver without causing ructions within the playing group.
“I love ball playing, it’s cool. That’s one of the first things JT talked about when I first met him over coffee,” Taylor reveals.
“Most halves want to be at first receiver and have the plays run through them but Moses and Brooks said ‘no, no, I’ll play off the back of you’.
“It’s a massive help because it would have been hard playing in a team where the halves wanted to be the ballplayers all the time.
“Credit to Mitchell and Luke for giving me the opportunity.”
So far it’s worked out. A penny for Griffin’s thoughts if Taylor lays on the winning try when the two sides clash this Sunday.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/tigers/nrl-2017-elijah-taylor-reflects-on-wests-tigers-rebirth-ahead-of-clash-with-penrith-panthers/news-story/e5516a6d35b8752459153d3d5824ccd6
Sometimes a player just needs to move on to find the right fit for his game. Right from the get go, Elijah gelled with the players around him and he has come on in leaps and bounds at Wests Tigers. Much like Luke Keary is now doing at the Roosters, after struggling at Souths.
Class act Elijah Taylor pushed out of a Club he obviously loved…doesn't have a bad thing to say...
Comes here and fits like a glove..
Comes here and fits like a glove..
greatodensraven
New member
Legend. Hopefully a leader for us for many years to come.
Tim Sheens
Well-known member
Class, on and off the paddock.
Tigerdave
Well-known member
glad he's liking it here
MightyMaggy
New member
A very impressive man and a great acquisition for the Tigers!
larrycorowa
New member
How long will the same article be rehashed in the week we play Penrith
Enmoretiger
Member
@ said:
JT must get a lot of credit for this. He picked the right type of forward, at the right time in his career and reinvigorated him. Elljah has not only fitted in with the playing style, but also the group itself. He is and will be a big influence on the Polynesian boys. I do note that Jossh Aloia seems to be close, what a great role model to have around the place.
On a side note, did anyone else see where JT stands as all time point scores; I noted on Friday night when the commentary spoke about Jonathan Thurston and breaking 2000 points. JT has 2107, with only Hazem El Masri & Andrew Johns above him! It is easy to forget what a career he had.
MacDougall
New member
What a legend this bloke is. We should give him a 4 year contract and make him captain. Typifies what the rest of our guys should aspire to be.
851
Well-known member
He plays with heart, something not many others do
supercoach
Well-known member
Big ticker and punches above his weight every week,but they are overdoing his 1st receiver role big time it's become very predictable
Tiger_Watto
New member
Do those head clashes count as head knocks? Just wondering if he may be rested this week out of precaution/responsibility?
Timing isnt good?!
Timing isnt good?!
