Why Brisbane could close the deal and sign Titans halfback Ash Taylor

FIND out why Brisbane weren’t able to close the deal and bring Titans halfback Ash Taylor back to the Broncos.

Whayne Bennett and New Bronco Ashley Taylor training at Red Hill. Pic Annette Dew

WAYNE Bennett says Ash Taylor could still return to the Broncos despite the boom halfback signing a $3 million deal with the Gold Coast Titans.

Taylor will remain at the Titans until at least the end of 2021 after extending his present contract by a further three years.

The 22-year-old cut his teeth at the Broncos and made his NRL debut for Brisbane in 2015 before being released by coach Bennett to seek a regular first-grade berth at the Gold Coast.

With Ben Hunt leaving Brisbane for St George-Illawarra, the Broncos registered interest in bringing Taylor back to Red Hill.

But the Gold Coast’s $1 million-a-season deal was too good to resist for the Queensland Origin hopeful and the Titans secured his signature before he officially became a free agent on November 1.

Taylor made his NRL debut for the Broncos in 2015.

Bennett will place his faith in Kodi Nikorima firing in the No. 7 jersey next year but said Taylor may yet be seen in a Broncos jersey before his career is over.

“I’ve got no issue, if Ash has signed with the Titans, that’s good, I’m happy for him,” he said.

“I did the right thing by him in letting him go. He may still come back to the Broncos one day, he is a young player, but he got a good offer from the Titans.

“To be honest, we couldn’t compete with the Titans offer. We don’t have the money available to match what the Titans offered so it was an easy choice for Ash.

“Right now, Kodi is our man and I’m going with him at halfback and we’ll see where it all takes us.”

COUP: Taylor sticks with Titans

REACTION: Taylor never considered Brisbane

The upgrading of five-eighth Anthony Milford to a $1 million-a-season deal combined with the signing of Cronulla’s Jack Bird and captain Darius Boyd’s final contract meant the Broncos could not match the Titans’ offer to Taylor.

Taylor said apart from a chance meeting with Bennett, he did not seriously consider a return to the Broncos.

“I didn’t really think about that, it wasn’t really an option for me,” Taylor said.

“They’ve got a lot of key players there and couldn’t really fit me in the system.

“Wayne wanted me back there as it was all over the media, but for me, I don’t think it was the best option.

“I spoke to him (Bennett) at the airport and stuff, nothing official. We crossed paths every now and then but there wasn’t a chat about anything.”

Since leaving Brisbane, Taylor has become one of the best young halfbacks in the game.

The 47-game youngster will now be looking to cement himself as one of the NRL’s top halfbacks and a future Maroons playmaker.

Taylor was invited into Camp Maroon during this year’s Origin series and Queensland coach Kevin Walters said the Gold Coast could build around the former Dally M rookie-of-the-year.

“It’s up to Ash now to knuckle down and work on the little things in his game to take him to the next level,” he said.

“A few clubs would have chased him because he had a great rookie season (2016). That earned him the call-up to our Queensland Emerging program so it’s great news for the Titans and good news for the Maroons as well.

“The Titans can build their club around Ash. Certainly what he has shown in the last couple of years with his ability and direction and the way he steers the team around.

“The Titans locked him up before he could get to the open market, which was very smart on their behalf.”

Taylor waived a 10 day cooling-off period for the contract and cannot backflip on the deal.