Win a stepping stone for 'new' Ash Taylor but can't be a one-off

Titans five-eighth Ash Taylor says his match-winning display against the Wests Tigers can be a stepping stone to recapturing his best form.

It was certainly a step in the right direction, away from "the old Ash Taylor" and towards a more confident version.

The 24-year-old playmaker had a key role in four Titans tries in the 28-23 win at Suncorp Stadium.

He set up a try for Anthony Don with a precision bomb, another for Brian Kelly with a clever grubber and the final try with an instinctive pass that led to Kelly kicking for Phillip Sami’s match-winner in the 78th minute.

A rejuvenated Taylor, who sat out a part of last season for personal reasons, recognises he is the Titans' marquee player and it is his responsibility to perform on a regular basis.

"It is just one game. You can’t rely on one game to bring back your best career games," he said.

"It is a stepping stone and something to work off."

A telling moment, for what it said about Taylor’s increasing self-belief, happened in the 12th minute when he threw an intercept pass for David Nofoaluma to score and give the Tigers a 12-0 lead.

He held his head high and minutes later landed a decisive 40/20 which led to a Kevin Proctor try. It was a bold play which turned the match. Taylor conceded the Nofoaluma mishap would have previously led to him going into his shell.

"The boys got around me pretty quick. Previously the old Ash Taylor would have put his head down and wouldn’t have got involved," he said.

Coach Justin Holbrook's switch of Taylor from halfback to five-eighth worked well against the Wests Tigers. In tandem with new halves partner, Jamal Fogarty, he had more time with his kicking game and appeared less rushed than when he was in the No.7 jersey.

"It takes a bit of pressure off myself. Being a half you are a hard on yourself to try and make the big plays every play but now we have got Jamal in there and he is doing a great job," Taylor said.

"[Holbrook] has helped me massively. That is why he switched me to five-eighth to keep my role simple and try and inject myself into the game not as much, but when I do get the ball I need to make something of it."

Holbrook was impressed with Taylor on Sunday but made the point that his halves partner had played his part too.

"A lot of the credit has got to go to Jamal Fogarty in that area because he is a natural organising half," Holbrook said.

"I thought his kicks were solid for us which frees up Ash to not have to try and dominate the game. What we want him to do is have some quality touches and make it count, which is what he did.

"It has been hard for Ash the last couple of weeks because we have been burning up energy defending. When we had an even share of ball  he came up with quality, which is what we need from  him.”

Taylor spoke after the first win under Holbrook, and the first win by the club since June 9 last year, with a determination that it would not be a one-off.

"It is good to get a win for ourselves most importantly, and secondly for all our supporters, sponsors, owners and for Justin and our coaches. We have really put in the hard work," Taylor said.

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"We need to not just leave it at one win. We need to get a few runs on the board and try and play like that each week.

"As a club we haven’t been very strong the last few years but we really want to work hard on changing that.

"We’ve just got to put that 80-minute performance in every week to give ourselves the best opportunity of finishing at the business end of the year."