Titans halfback Ash Taylor has lost six kilos in the off-season in his quest to win a Queensland jersey after identifying excess weight and a lack of peak fitness was preventing him reaching his potential.
The streamlined 23-year-old Titan spoke to NRL.com in camp with the Emerging Maroons squad on the Sunshine Coast on Saturday where the results of three months of hard yakka were plain to see.
"This is the best I have been since playing in the NRL. I am down to 87 kilos after I was playing at 93 last year. I set myself a target to play lighter this year and to be stronger and fitter so that is what I have been working on over the off-season," Taylor said."Last year I wasn’t in the entire game and there was a 10-minute period that really let me down. The biggest thing is to make sure I am fit and healthy enough to ensure I am playing for that full 80 minutes and not fading out of games.
"To make this Queensland team you have to sacrifice some things off the field to make sure you are in the best