Broncos rookie Ashley Taylor snubs Manly’s Bob Fulton to sign with Gold Coast Titans
Peter Badel The Courier-Mail
THE Titans have scored a $500,000 coup when Broncos young gun Ashley Taylor rejected overtures from Manly supremo Bob Fulton.
The Junior Kangaroos sensation’s verbal agreement to join the Titans is a major boost for the club before of their derby clash with Taylor’s Broncos on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
Taylor was one of the most sought-after youngsters in the code. The Titans, Manly, Cowboys and Dragons all expressed interest in the 20-year-old playmaker.
The Sea Eagles were considered frontrunners to snare Taylor after Fulton ramped-up his strategic plan to pair him with Daly Cherry-Evans, who sensationally reneged on his Titans deal last month.
Instead the Gold Coast have won the race for Taylor. The Toowoomba product told the Titans he wants to remain close to family and the parties will settle financial terms in the coming days.
Taylor is one of rugby league’s most highly rated talents.
The Titans initially tabled a two-year deal but are prepared to offer a third season to secure Taylor until the end of 2018.
The acquisition of Taylor helps ease the pain over the loss of Cherry-Evans, whose defection left Titans coach Neil Henry scrambling for a viable playmaking replacement.
Fulton has a high opinion of Taylor and viewed Cherry-Evans as a handy mentor but the Sea Eagles are facing a salary cap crisis that could lead to an exodus of Manly stars.
Taylor will team with fellow rookie Kane Elgey at the Titans scrumbase next season and underscored his talent with a sizzling display as the Broncos under-20s beat the Tigers 40-24 last Sunday.
Taylor has yet to play first grade but Broncos under-20s coach Craig Hodges insists the young halfback would not be out of his depth in the NRL next season.
“Ashley is ready,’’ Hodges said. “I have every confidence in him to make the jump to the NRL.
“I think it’s an exciting opportunity if the Titans blood two young halves. It would be exciting for their club and exciting for the players themselves.
“Often in our game, NRL players get recycled just because they’ve been in a system but it’s great to see a young bloke like Ashley coming through.
“He has a wonderful future in the game. Ash has great speed and good size for a halfback. He’s around (183cm) and over the next 12 months he will fill out and become a 90kg playmaker, so when he runs at the line he will have the speed and strength to pull through half gaps.
“He also has a very good kicking game and the ability to organise, so I have no doubt those strengths in his game can be transferred to the NRL.”
Taylor’s imminent signing caps a successful two days for the Titans, who on Tuesday staved off premiers Souths to retain promising back Brian Kelly.
The 19-year-old junior Origin star will train with the Titans’ NRL squad in November and is likened in style to South Sydney Test flyer Alex Johnston.
“Souths have been interested in him for a period of 12 months, but the Titans were able to increase their two-year offer,” his manager Tas Bartlett said.
“Brian is very happy that he is staying on the Gold Coast to live out his NRL dream.’’
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/...-1227452958864
#TitansThruNThru #WeAreReady
Will only be happy when pen is on paper
Knick knack patty whack give a DOG a bone
DCE f.........k off home
Good news finally. It's amazing how your expectations dwindle to the point where you go from thinking you had DCE to trying to convince yourself that at some point maybe Sandow isn't so bad (I've had some dark days recently).
I would be making Scott Bolton a priority right now ... he may not be the most devastating forward but he's got size and plays the right edge ... then we start to look like an NRL forward pack.
Douglas
Moseley
Shillington
James
Bolton
Bird
Plus
Pettybourne
Paasi
Peteru
Burr
Four reasons to escape to Queensland: Sun, Surf, Sand & the Titans.
Peter Badel's version:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1227453598719IT’S time. The Titans must start an aggressive raid on the player market, starting with a $700,000 bid for Bulldog Moses Mbye. And NRL chief executive Dave Smith should assist in reviving the Gold Coast as a premiership force.
It was just five years ago that the Titans were one game shy of a grand final.
Today, they are NRL whipping boys with a roster as skinny as a Kenyan marathon runner.
Tomorrow night, the once vaunted Queensland battle between Brisbane and the Titans threatens to degenerate into a smash-up derby.
If the table-topping Broncos are on song, and the Titans maintain the mediocrity of recent weeks, Brisbane could win by 40.
The Titans have confronted tremendous turbulence this season and they need help from the NRL, which now controls their licence, to haul them out of the mire.
For years we’ve heard about Smith’s discretionary power to use NRL funds to help deliver a marquee player to a nominated club.
In that time, the NRL war chest has remained untouched. Smith has not assisted any club in any pursuit of any player.
For a year, rugby pundits speculated on the future of off-contract Israel Folau. The Marsden High product would have been the perfect poster boy for the Titans, but the silence from League Central was deafening.
The NRL must now dip into their pockets and help the Titans secure a nominated Super Six group of players, including Mbye, the Bulldogs playmaker who has the class, chutzpah and charisma to be a future captain.
Rival teams will throw their toys out of the cot at the notion of the NRL helping the Titans but for too long, the governing body has allowed myopic self-interest to override what is good from a whole-of-game perspective.
There are too many sporting carcasses on the Gold Coast to think the Titans can rise again without some form of assistance. The AFL were wise enough to provide financial concessions to Sydney Swans and the Gold Coast Suns to safeguard their expansionary clubs in their crucial formative years.
Unless the NRL do something, the Titans could be a basketcase for another five years. That would be a disastrous scenario in a region where the Suns are gradually chipping away to win the hearts and minds of the Gold Coast public.
Here are the six players the Titans should attempt to sign over the next two years to make the club competitive again:
MOSES MBYE
His management have told the Titans he is prepared to quit the Bulldogs if they offered him $700,000 a season. The Titans are prepared to pay around $400,000. They should open the purse strings today because Mbye is a blue-chip investment. The kid from Noosa ticks all the boxes: Queensland boy, classy playmaker, popular clubman with the intellect and level head to be the face of the Titans for a decade.
JOSH PAPALII
The Titans need homegrown products with connectability to local fans and Papalii, the wrecking ball from Logan, is the ideal package. He is off-contract next season and would be a devastating weapon in the Gold Coast back row with his rampaging charges and hitting power in defence.
DALE COPLEY
For the past two months, Copley has languished in the Intrust Super Cup, stuck behind Jack Reed, Justin Hodges and Jordan Kahu at the table-topping Broncos. Copley has the talent to play Origin one day and is too good to be stuck in second-tier football for another three months. The Titans should strike now.
CAMERON MUNSTER
The Storm sensation has been tagged the next Billy Slater but he is being forced to serve a long apprenticeship in Melbourne. Slater plans to play another two years and whether Munster is prepared to wait until 2018 for a crack at his cherished No. 1 jumper is debatable. Munster hails from Rockhampton and would be a revelation at the back for the Titans.
NELSON ASOFA-SOLOMONA
The Storm rookie is arguably the best young front-rower on the rise. Was outstanding for the Junior Kiwis earlier this season and terrorises teams with his size, footwork and offloading ability. Off-contract next year. The Titans need serious mongrel up front and Asofa-Solomona would provide it.
AIDAN GUERRA
It would take a lot to prise him from the Roosters but the Titans should at least ask the question armed with bagfuls of cash. Guerra is a Queensland boy and the prospect of returning home is always a handy lure. The Maroons Origin star would bring toughness, credibility and workrate to the Titans’ back row.
Personally, MBye would be the only one on this list I would throw decent money at.
Four reasons to escape to Queensland: Sun, Surf, Sand & the Titans.
agree titanic, but Copley would be good at the right price.
and Papalli might be the enforcer we have needed for a long time.
I thought Moses was ungettable, but if its only $700,00...he really would be worth it. ticks alot of boxes
The general gist of Badel's article is spot on but why start an aggressive raid on the player market now - why didn't we a month ago when the decent players were on the market.
Hell would break loose if the NRL help us to get players especially as they are our owners. They could however help point us in the direction of third party deals which is an area that many clubs seem to have an advantage over us.