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Post by Electric Eel on May 31, 2020 15:28:07 GMT 10
Paul Taylor Parramatta 1981 - 1989 Games - 157 Wikipedia
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Post by Electric Eel on May 31, 2020 15:28:30 GMT 10
Former halfback was used to great advantage by Jack Gibson at Parramatta, playing fullback, hooker and, incredibly, second row forward during the 1980s. Taylor's versatility saw him used as a reserve in the Eels' historic grand final win in 1981 but he played fullback during the club's 1982-84 and 1986 grand final campaigns. Taylor often came into the front line and tackled relentlessly, allowing Peter Sterling to fall back and cover-defend. On one occasion during 1981, Taylor made a club record 52 tackles in a match while in 1988, he scored a then club record-equalling 4 tries in a match against Canberra. He was a frequent visitor to English club football in the Australian off-season, playing with Oldham (1984-85 and again in 1988-89) but was cut from the Parramatta club in bitter circumstances at the start of the 1990 season. Linking with Penrith, he dislodged veteran Royce Simmons from the hooking role but a broken collarbone ended his Sydney career. Taylor later became a coach on the Central Coast.
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Post by Electric Eel on May 31, 2020 15:29:04 GMT 10
Paul Taylor
An unsung hero of the Eels' 1980s dynasty, 'Taz' brought crazy and quality in equal quantity
You played at 71kg and never did weights. How did you survive? I remember they wanted us to do weights one year at Ashcroft as a junior, but they didn't stipulate how heavy. So I was in there bench pressing two-and-a-half kilos. They caught me and I got a three-week suspension!
You made what was then a Parramatta club record 52 tackles in the mud at Cumberland in 1981. Where did that thirst for defence come from? When I was back in school I used to tackle an old rolling blow-up tube, so I continued with that over the years. I used to do a one-hour session before we played a game. People thought I was mad but that was just my preparation.
Is it true you almost missed a game once because of that tackling ritual? I was living on the Central Coast and I found a park down in Woy Woy to do my hour of tackling. But I locked my keys in the car, so on top of the tackling session, I had to run home 5km to get my spare keys, and then run back to the car. It must have been another hour of work but I ended up getting man of the match. After that I thought maybe I should continue that routine, but my career would have been a lot shorter!
Did it worry you that people suggested you weren't big enough to make it at No.1? It didn't really affect me. A lot of the time we never had a fullback. I remember one day Sterlo was at marker and he was screaming out, 'Where's Taz?' and I was standing right behind him. But I have to give Sterlo a lot of credit for going back to fullback in the later years, around '86. I just knew as soon as he kicked that ball down field, I could get there before he could. So by the time I got down there I had four or five tackles to defend and Sterlo could sit back and work out what he wanted to do in attack.
You went from an extremely slack trainer to a dedicated one. What changed? It hit me when I saw the calibre of players at the club. I always thought that I was under par in talent compared to some other blokes. I looked at it like, 'Some have the talent, and others have the endurance'. So I had to work out how to fit in once I got in there. Looking at the speed and ability of the side, I just tried to be the fittest bloke at the club and in the end it worked out well.
Peter Sterling won the inaugural Clive Churchill Medal in 1986, but said it should have gone to you. Then he said you should have gone on the Kangaroo tour. Was that humbling or frustrating? It was very humbling, especially coming from him. (Missing the tour) didn't really bother me because I was quite comfortable playing for Parramatta and I wasn't worried about playing under another coach in an Australian side. It would be very hard to mimic what Sterlo, Kenny and I did on the football field for Parramatta. I knew where I could go, and it was done. Nothing was said - we just did what we did. But going to another side, I don't think the mechanics of it would have worked.
You had two stints with Oldham in England...fond memories from your time there? I remember it was snowing before one game. They put out on the radio to the fans that if they wanted the game to go ahead then they had to come down and shovel the snow off the field. So they came down, shovelled all the snow off the field and we had to play. The ground was rock hard, so if I could have found a shovel I'd have shovelled all the snow back on!
What are your memories of your first game there? As I was walking down the tunnel I saw all these scratch marks along the wall. I couldn't understand what it was. Then when half-time came around they put two bottles of port on the table. Everyone started drinking port to warm themselves up. I didn't know these blokes, so I'm thinking, 'I've got to get in with them', so I had about four or five ports. Comming down the tunnel, I'm blind. My hands are against the side of the walls and that's where the scratches on the wall came from - blokes stumbling down the tunnel pissed and scratching the walls. And they consistently did it. Obviously, they wouldn't do it in today's world, but they did it in Oldham!
How'd you perform after that? It was a strange feeling, playing drunk like that. In saying that, I probably played a few games at Parramatta after getting home at 4am, and I was probably in the same boat then.
You were always known as a player who partied as hard as you played... That's just the way I was, but as soon as the whistle went I was ready to go. It didn't matter if I did something the night before. I always used to go up to the Mt Pritchard Community Club with Dad for a few beers...even before all my grand finals we'd knock over eight to ten beers.
Why did you leave Parramatta? Well I got sacked really. (Club secretary) Denis Fitzgerald said to me, 'We're not going to extend your contract'. That's all he said, so I just went home.
You could have made a grand final with Penrith in 1990 had you not broken your arm? The ironic thing about that was that I injured it playing against Parramatta. I think I was actually trying to tackle Sterlo. It was disappointing because I went into hooker and put Royce Simmons into reserve grade. There was a big shitfight over it and Royce kept going to the papers.
What are you up to these days? I maintain 15 villas overlooking Ayers Rock. I work at the Longitude 131 which is luxury accomodation based at Yulara. I'm 53, but I still go for 12km runs. It gets up to around 44 degrees most days up here, so I usually go early mornings if I can...but you get used to the heat out here.
By Matt Logue Rugby League Week
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Post by Electric Eel on May 31, 2020 15:29:39 GMT 10
Paul Taylor (born 26 July 1959 ) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played at club level for Parramatta Eels (Heritage No. 385) for nine season between 1981-1989, Oldham (Heritage No.) (two spells) in 1984 and 1989, Wakefield Trinity (Heritage No. 1015) in 1989-90, and Penrith Panthers (Heritage No. 295) in 1990 before retiring. He played as a fullback, five-eighth, halfback, hooker, second-row, or lock, i.e. number 1, 6, 7, 9, 11 or 12, or 13.
Playing career
Taylor played in four grand finals for Parramatta Eels including three winning premiership teams in 1982, 1983 and 1986. He was also listed as a reserve in Parramatta's first grand final win in 1981. Taylor was the favoured fullback during the Jack Gibson era at Parramatta and played a total of 150 first grade games with the club.
In 2013, Taylor spoke to the media about his time at Parramatta saying "I always thought I was under par in talent compared to the other blokes but I had endurance, So I had to work out how to fit in once I got in there, and that meant looking at the speed and ability of the side and working out what I could bring to the table. I just tried to be the fittest bloke at the club, and in the end it worked out well".
In a brilliant club career, two highlights include (1) in a club game during the 1981 season, Paul Taylor made an astonishing 52 tackles in a match, and (2) during the 1988 season he equalled a club record by scoring 4 tries in a match against Canberra Raiders. Unfortunately, he was always overlooked as a representative player.
After a bitter dispute with Parramatta during the 1989 off season, Taylor moved to the Penrith Panthers. He only played 3 games for the Panthers in 1990 before a broken collarbone ended his career.
Wikipedia
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Post by Electric Eel on Aug 15, 2024 23:02:23 GMT 10
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