What happened to Cody Taylor?
18 months ago, Taylor started the Super season like a man possessed. Scoring tries, dominating collisions, big runs with ball in hand. In short, playing like an All Black.
Tests was still going great guns, but form fell the longer he was in black. By the end of the NH tour he was a shadow of himself.
This Super season he was Cody Taylor lite. Not the clear number 1 hooker in New Zealand by a long way. Eklund (bar the final implosion), and Samasoni would both be ahead of him on form alone.
Come this seasons Irish tests. We'll, he's got worse. Last year he was up there with Malcom Marx challenging the massive Boer to be rated the best in the world. This year? Where are the big runs, the smashing people for fun, the meanness that he had?
Whats happened? Home front troubles with erindoors? Coaching? I've heard through the jungle drums Plumtree is a bit of a no hoper. Perhaps going from Ryan to Plum is knocking him?
Who knows! It's sad, watching a potential great AB fall from grace.
Thoughts?
@BartMan Attitude I reckon. It’s like he’s gun shy in collisions. And he’s not the only one in this team, unfortunately. My 2 cents is that Mealamu used to rip into breakdowns with no fear and take contact well, adjusting to take the impact rather than trying to deflect it. But Taylor seems to be second guessing himself.
BTW, good to see you’re still lurking!
Cumulative niggles and he’s hit the wall?
Occasionally there’s flashes of the old player but he’s largely been shit at SR and Test level for two seasons. Selected on reputation
We’ll take 3 hookers to the RWC. I understand wanting to keep some experience but it’s so risky trying to include Coles and Taylor, pick one of them.
@Tim said in What happened to Cody Taylor?:
Aaron Smith seems to have hit a wall this year too. He was patchy in Super Rugby, but had some good games. He was dreadfully slow in the past two tests. Distribution quality was way down, kicking game no good. Zero running game.
Something to do with our lack of parity up front and our general lack of a pattern?
@canefan He's done much better with slow ball in the past. He didn't distribute any better when we were going forward either. He's just very slow now. He might be able to pull out a good game now and then, but is past his best, like many of our players.
@Tim TBF I am less concerned about 9 than I am the general play.
Fix our forwards, get some direction, more movement instead of the predictable pass to 1st received or flat pass to a static forward 2 men out, and he will look better too.
I think he is the least of our worries right now.
@Tim said in What happened to Cody Taylor?:
@canefan He's done much better with slow ball in the past. He didn't distribute any better when we were going forward either. He's just very slow now. He might be able to pull out a good game now and then, but is past his best, like many of our players.
He looked unsure last night
@BartMan said in What happened to Cody Taylor?:
It's sad, watching a potential great AB fall from grace.
It also made me angry that we got the opportunity to watch him further fall from grace in this match, he should have been the one dropped after the first two matches.
My thoughts; remember seeing him as a young and hungry up-and-comer in the 2015 WC here. Started from the bench, remember being impressed with his physical prowess, attitude and tenacity - a willingness to roll his sleeves up and put his body on the line for his teamates - which I totally agree has been sadly lacking in the last couple of years. I think what is missing is the HUNGER. It's the HUNGER that has deserted him. (I saw more hunger in youngster Tupou Va'ai from the bench than I did in the rest of that AB team put together.) Maybe Codie has done it all. He's won a WC. Won SR titles. Won domestic titles. Won numerous Bleds and
RCs. Won in the NH EOYT. What's left???
Maybe what I'm saying is that he has a family right? And he's been injury-plagued recently too. Without stating the obvious "nah he's just got too old" rhetoric - whether we like it or not, Covid has made all of us stand back and reassess what is important to us, and maybe he has figured out there are more important things in life than just playing professional rugby. The argument there of course is that he should think about stepping back, taking a leave of absence or retiring completely. (These tests have shown us that there are a number of ABs which fall into that category)
@Nepia said in What happened to Cody Taylor?:
@BartMan said in What happened to Cody Taylor?:
It's sad, watching a potential great AB fall from grace.
It also made me angry that we got the opportunity to watch him further fall from grace in this match, he should have been the one dropped after the first two matches.
Yes, Fozzy sorted the problem of Taylor's lack of form by dropping Samasoni from the bench and installing a 37 year old penalty magnet who's played 10 minutes all year. It's those decisions that make you shake your head, genuine WTF moments.
@BartMan said in What happened to Cody Taylor?:
@Nepia said in What happened to Cody Taylor?:
@BartMan said in What happened to Cody Taylor?:
It's sad, watching a potential great AB fall from grace.
It also made me angry that we got the opportunity to watch him further fall from grace in this match, he should have been the one dropped after the first two matches.
Yes, Fozzy sorted the problem of Taylor's lack of form by dropping Samasoni from the bench and installing a 37 year old penalty magnet who's played 10 minutes all year. It's those decisions that make you shake your head, genuine WTF moments.
I could kind of understand Coles on the bench to provide some energy and aggro in the last 15 but Sami T not even playing was an idiotstroke and the straw that broke any benefit of doubt I was giving these guys.
Apart from the player it clearly signalled to Ireland that we weren't going to go up the guts but would continue to try and recreate the old systems of putting forwards out wide to get go forward after turnovers. They just needed to stay in the middle of the park until those forwards were sucked in to help and the gaps appeared.
