Northcote great calls time on decorated Premier Cricket career
One of Northcote’s greats has called time on a decorated Premier Cricket career. Ryder Medallist Steve Taylor retires with a fairytale century in his last innings.
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A star of Victorian Premier Cricket for the past decade, Steve Taylor called time on his decorated career last week.
The Northcote star and 2015-16 Ryder Medallist hangs up the boots after 3895 runs – including five centuries – and 95 wickets in 151 First XI matches.
Taylor captained the Dragons for six seasons and coached the club for two and leaves an indelible mark at Bill Lawry Oval.
After 11 seasons he said it felt like the right time to hand the reins over for someone new to take the club forward.
“I sat down and tried to get my head out of the game, had a think about it, and thought it was a good time for the club to make the transition,” Taylor said.
“The playing group is pretty stable and I think leaving now gives someone the opportunity to come in and put their own spin on it.
“My motivation for taking over the coaching role when Dave Reid left was to give the senior group the chance to finish what we started – to win a flag.
“The first year was a disaster and last year we won through to a prelim, had all the momentum, and it got called off because of COVID.
“Then this year we were sitting second and ended up missing the finals by six or seven runs, which was an incredibly disappointing finish.”
Taylor said he’s yet to decide if he’ll continue playing or coaching at a lower level.
Debuting in 2010-11, travelling down from Holbrook in country NSW, Taylor’s First XI career got off to a rocky start.
The youngster was dismissed for a golden duck by Justin Jaensch in his first knock and a seven-ball duck in his second by Evan Gulbis.
“The first ball I faced in Premier Cricket, it was at Punt Road, and got hit on the top of the foot first ball and out – walked on and walked off,” he said.
“I remember thinking this is a bit harder than I thought and I could either go back to Albury and be a big fish in a little pond or commit and really give this thing a crack.”
He quickly found his feet, scoring his maiden Premier Cricket century the following season – 137 against Kingston Hawthorn, which remains his highest score.
In 2015-16 he broke the 500-run barrier for the first time, collected 22 wickets, and was rewarded with the Ryder Medal.
In a fairytale finish, “Tubby” scored an outstanding 120 in what would be his final innings for the Dragons.
However, it was the team achievements that will stay with him longest.
“There’s heaps of good memories … played in a lot of debut games, took catches for bowlers’ first wicket, which is great to be a part of,” Taylor said.
“Stoin (Marcus Stoinis) and I put on 297, a club record for the second wicket, then he holed out and I was spewing because we were two or three runs short of 300.
“Stoin (Marcus Stoinis) and I put on 297, a club record for the second wicket, then he holed out and I was spewing because we were two or three runs short of 300.
“Obviously, the (qualifying) final win last year, it’s those memories that you can share with other people, I’ve made a few hundreds but the individual things aren’t as special.”
Taylor’s feats with the bat place him in Northcote’s top-10 run-scorers of all-time alongside the likes of club legends Gerard Dowling, Bill Lawry and Collingwood Brownlow Medallist Des Fothergill.
He’s played alongside the likes of international superstar Stoinis, fellow Ryder Medallist Theo Doropoulos and Zimbabwean international Solomon Mire.
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He also paid tribute to coaches Warren Perera, David Reid, Neil Barrass and Troy Rowe for helping him become a better player and leader.
“Theo Doropoulos was our club pro when I first came down and then Stoin came across and made Victoria his oyster,” Taylor said.
“Solly Mire is the other one, I’ve played a lot of cricket with him in Darwin and down here in Melbourne, he’s the guy I loved batting with the most.
“He’s the only guy that could swing and miss and that have just as bigger impact on the bowler’s confidence as if he middled it. He swung that hard.”
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