DEPARTING South Sydney forward Dave Taylor has paid the price for a horror run of big-game footy, dumped from the Australian Test team to play New Zealand in Townsville on October 13.
Taylor, who started the April Test against the Kiwis, fell from grace following a lacklustre finals series and two poor Origin performances for Queensland.
The big-money Gold Coast recruit was axed by the Maroons for the final Origin fixture this year after playing a combined total of just 81 minutes in the first two games, producing no tackle breaks, no offloads and no linebreaks in that time – his pet stats.
Taylor’s big game woes continued for Souths in the NRL finals series, culminating in his worst performance of the season in the grand final qualifier against the Bulldogs.
Taylor played just 43 minutes (his shortest game time of the season) and missed three tackles, including a lazy attempt on Greg Eastwood that led to a match-clinching try for the Bulldogs - after which Taylor was immediately hooked by coach Micheal Maguire.
In an interesting twist, Taylor’s replacement at the Rabbitohs next year, Ben Te’o, was named 18th man in coach Tim Sheens’ side today.
