Great to see Ash Taylor rebuilding his confidence and headspace. I'm glad the club have him space to do it.
I wish him a successful year.
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Great to see Ash Taylor rebuilding his confidence and headspace. I'm glad the club have him space to do it.
I wish him a successful year.
Fatherhood and time away rejuvenate Taylor
https://www.nrl.com/
Titans halfback Ash Taylor says time working on his mental health and the arrival of a son have him in a good head space to throw himself back into the pressure-packed world of NRL football.
Taylor, who also hinted that Tyrone Peachey was a big chance of working his way into the halves at the Titans in 2020, didn't elaborate on the "personal issues" that forced him to take time out in 2019, saying he wanted to leave them in the past.
"I've been training really hard, Justin [Holbrook] has brought some new faces in and a fresh new system so just looking forward to the season that's ahead," Taylor said.
He praised the support from his parents and partner, with whom he welcomed a son.
"It was really exciting to see the support base I had around me to get me through some situations and the addition to my young fella, he's really changed my life and I'm just really excited to perform for him.
"I'm feeling strong and fit for this season, my mental game is a lot stronger this year than it was recently, I've been working on that since I took time off. I'm still seeing specialists today.
"It's a long-term thing for me to get myself better. I'm not in it just for footy, I'm in it for past footy as well. I'm really working hard to get my head space right for the season and to keep it right throughout the season as well."
Taylor described new coach Holbrook as an up-front type who knows what he wants out of the team and has given everyone a specific role.
"We've been working hard especially on our defence over the break, everyone's on the same page now and we'll continue that with our attack as well. I'm really excited because its new and fresh and a lot different to what we've been doing in the past," Taylor added.
Taylor expected his play to be more hands-on, similar to the role he had played for Tweed last season in which he netted 10 try assists in six games.
"He wants us to play what's in front of us. There's not much structure at the moment, we want to see what's in front of us and we're just going to play with it," Taylor said.
Taylor said the four-into-two halves equation at the club, with Peachey, Tanah Boyd, Tyrone Roberts and himself battling for positions, would keep the quartet on their toes.
While most are expecting Taylor and Roberts to get first crack in the halves, Taylor said he is still fighting for his own spot. Peachey, who has been spending time training at five-eighth, adds to the possible combinations heading into round one.
"I can't really tell who's going to be five-eighth at the moment but everyone's willing to put their hand up for five-eighth and halfback," Taylor said.
"I don't really have a preference [who plays five-eighth], I'm still fighting for my position. We're all working hard, Tyrone Peachey is really dynamic at five-eighth and he ended last year playing in the middle and anywhere, he's one of those players who can play anywhere.
"Tyrone [Roberts] had a massive year last year until he hurt his Achilles, there's a real tussle going there in the halves."
Boyd/Taylor for mine long term but who’s kicking for goal.
I‘ll be at training this week on Thursday from 930ish onwards. Anyone free come catch up !!
Ash kicked at over 80% in his first season by memory. If he can get back to doing that then I'm sure that confidence would flow into the other parts of his game. He's a great goal kicker he just needs to accept that it is his responsibility (especially when he is payed as much as he is)
Good session so far. The mood is pretty upbeat. Mo is finally on the paddock training.
Young fullback Lofty has speed to burn and is really impressive. He was the quickest in the speed test by far.
Lofty? Who’s this now?
That's good news cause our team really lacks speed
Any comments about having five players in All Stars (Peats, Peachey, James, Roberts & Proctor)
What A Weapon Highlight for Lofi
https://www.qrl.com.au/news/2019/08/...fiana-pereira/
Yeah that who it was. All I could hear from the ground was Lofi from the players.
It’s interesting when I’ve been to the training sessions I’m drawn to watching Tanah Boyd. Not sure why but he just looks like and old school footy player. Hope to see him have a big year for us.
After training the bulk of the players did extras the halves were with Justin for a bit then did stuff by themselves. GL did some defensive work followed by catching high balls kicked by Flash and Sami was doing some of the catching as well but I have noticed that Sami is pretty supportive of GL at training. It seems that James is on full contact now ( not wearing the pink bib ) and looks pretty fit.
Proctor / Carty and Whitbread did 15 minutes extras together as well. From my observation at training Whitbread and Arrow both train the same and sometimes you could get the two mixed up. Long term Whitbread COULD be a solid 13 for us.
Ryan James ACL
Utter devastation for all of us
We don’t deserve this