Struggling Ash Taylor needs to find his inner kid, writes Gorden Tallis
It’s of paramount importance that rugby league respects Ash Taylor’s time out of the game, but there’s a lesson to learn that with a big price tag comes a vital and difficult responsibility, writes Gorden Tallis.
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First thing’s first, I hope Ash Taylor is OK.
Nobody likes to see a young player take a break from the game in the middle of the season for personal reasons.
I don’t know specifically what those personal reasons are but they must be significant to him for it to get to this point.
On the surface, he appears to be living the dream, getting paid a fortune to play the game he loves.
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But it doesn’t always work like that.
With a $1 million-a-year contract comes pressure. So does scrutiny and criticism when your team is losing.
Rugby league at this level is a business and the screws get turned on you relentlessly if you don’t perform.
If you are happy to take the cash, you have to be happy to take the heat.
And if you have the biggest pay packet, you have the biggest target on your back. Just ask Anthony Milford.
Some thrive on carrying that extra weight of expectation. Look at guys like Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston or Darren Lockyer.
They ate pressure for breakfast.
Some don’t.
There’s always the option of going to play park footy with your mates for a pie and a can of Coke. If you throw an intercept pass or miss a tackle, it doesn’t matter because you are not playing for sheep stations.
There’s no pressure because there’s no pay packet.
I hope Ash gets the help and support he needs and gets back to footy as soon as possible.
He hasn’t been playing well this season and he has been copping the brunt of it. He hasn’t looked happy. He hasn’t looked himself.
I understand that some Titans fans and other people will be disappointed that he walked away from the game for a period of time. They might feel let down that the star player on their team is not there to help them climb up the ladder.
But the key for Ash is to find that kid inside him who loves playing footy. The kid with the grin from ear to ear that could play a brilliant brand of footy that commanded a $1 million contract.
The quicker he gets back to training to work hard and be around his teammates and the Titans coaching staff, the better.
He also has a bloke at the Titans by the name of Mal Meninga who knows a little bit about the rugby league caper that he can lean on.
TIME FOR TITANS TO BULLY BIG BROTHER
The Titans have had plenty of sand kicked in their face by big brother Brisbane over the years so it’s time the Gold Coast stood up the bully Broncos in Sunday’s derby at Suncorp Stadium.
Right now, the Titans need a good, hard and gritty win.
It doesn’t need to be pretty.
Sometimes those ugly victories are more satisfying because you have to come together as a team and really dig in to overcome some adversity. That makes you closer as a side which serves you well into the future because you know you can tough it out.
The Titans forward pack always has a crack and their outside backs have shown they can sniff out a try when they get the chance.
So the halves have to lift. If they get the opportunity, they have to take the game by the scruff of the neck, take charge and get their team home.
You can’t do that from five metres before the defensive line either.
Originally published as Struggling Ash Taylor needs to find his inner kid, writes Gorden Tallis