What does Allan Langer, Steve Waugh and Hockeyroo Renee Taylor have in common that helped their rise to the top?

Hockeyroo Renee Taylor was not a prodigy in her sport but rose quickly from club level with Commercial into the Australian side, and she has her brother Jared to thank for contributing to her dramatic elevation.

Everton Park’s Renee Taylor has risen quickly to be a Hockeyroo.

In rugby league the Walters and Langer brothers had each other to play against in their Ipswich backyards and ex-Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh honed his skills during backyard “Test matches” against brothers Mark and Dean.

And so it is that Everton Park Hockeyroo Renee Taylor has her brother, Jared, to thank for contributing to her dramatic rise from Commercial club player to Australian hockey representative within a period of 18 months.

Taylor, 21, has spent a lot of her life playing with, against or training next to her older sibling.

“My dad said to me, you know, you really do owe him a lot,’’ Taylor said.

Taylor believes the backyard battles brought the best out in her. “I had to be better than him, he wanted to be better than me,’’ she said.

“We would play mini games, no shoes, no shin pads. I owe him a lot as to where I am today.’’

Even today Jared, an field and indoor hockey representative, is there for his sister.

“If I need an extra skills session he is the first one down at the pitch. He has worked 12 hours, but says ‘yep’, I will work with you.

“He is great. I owe him a lot.

“He comes on runs with me when I have a running program.

“He says “come on, you have to keep up with me’. He makes me better.’’

The Australian Hockeyroos huddle during the women's preliminary hockey game between Australia and New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games. (AAP Image/Dan Peled).

Jared said of the relationship with his sister. “We are both very supportive of each other in whatever we do.’’

The pair were born into a hockey family, with mum and dad, Sonya and Graham, taking their children to hockey as babies.

“I didn’t really have a choice,’’ Taylor said.

“They wanted to sign me up when I was three but they (the club) said I was too young.’’

As a child and a teenager Taylor always wanted to be a Hockeyroo, despite not being a hockey prodigy.

“I never really made a (junior) Queensland side. I always wanted to but I never made the side,’’ said Taylor, who is a past student of Everton Park State School and Clayfield College.

But when she finally made her first state side (under 18s), “it steam rolled and I ended up making the Hockeyroos (about 18 months later)’’.

“It came around so quickly I did not have a lot of time to think about it,’’ Taylor said.

Taylor said a podium finish at the Commonwealth Games (silver medal) was the type of thing which made all the hard work worth it, although she was hungry for gold in the future.

This month Taylor is playing for the Hockeyroos in a Tri-Nations Series against New Zealand and Japan in New Zealand as a warm up to the World Cup in London, July 9-21.