Taylor in 'good place' and on track for Titans rebirth: Roberts

Tyrone Roberts is back to full fitness and says his close friend Ash Taylor is also in "a good place" on and off the field as the duo target playing together for the entire season for the Gold Coast in 2020.

Incoming coach Justin Holbrook wants the pair to demand to be picked for the round-one clash with the Raiders in Canberra and while it is early days, it is so far so good.

Roberts played 15 games in 2019 due to Achilles injuries while Taylor played just 10 as he missed a large chunk of the season after taking a break from the game due to personal reasons. The first-choice halves duo played just eight times together last season.

Taylor is the Titans highest paid player and the club wants him to be happy off the field and playing the kind of football that had him on the cusp of making his Maroons debut in mid-2018.

"He looks good. He is in good shape. He is training well and running well and in control of stuff on and off the field at the moment," Roberts said of Taylor.

"He was copping it [last season]. I don’t have social media but you can feel it when someone is down like that. Everyone feels it … but he is in a good head space at the moment."

Roberts also played alongside AJ Brimson and Ryley Jacks in the halves last season and pointed out there were often different back-rowers alongside him as well.

"You need that connection. When you have swapping and changes it is hard to get your rhythm but we have got three months to sort that out," he said.

Holbrook has only been on deck for a month and is not locking anything in but he wants Roberts and Taylor to fire in the halves.

"They are going really well at training," Holbrook said.

"We are in our fourth week now so it is still early but if they are fully fit and training well they will be the preferred choice and I have got young Tanah Boyd snapping at their heels as well," he said.

"I have some good options and I am comfortable with them in the halves that is for sure.

"The key for any side is that you want your spine playing well and we are no different."

Roberts missed action early in the 2019 season with a tear in his right Achilles but it was what he described as issues with his "foot mechanics" on the left side that caused him to miss the last six rounds.

"I am back at full training now," Roberts said.

"I had a grade-two tear in the right one but it is the left one that is actually the issue. It is just a bit of foot mechanics that I have to get used to," he said.

"Because it was the Achilles I thought it would be about strengthening it with calf raises but it was foot mechanics. The new physio Ange [Angela Flack] has done a great job and given me some isometric stuff to work on and it has come along good."