Gold Coast coach Garth Brennan has encouraged halfback Ashley Taylor to run the ball more as he fine tunes his protege's game for the first time as NRL coach.
The former Penrith NSW Cup and under-20s coach worked privately last season with Taylor who led the competition with 19 try assists, many of which came from kicks.
Now at the helm of the Titans, Brennan has encouraged the 22-year-old to take on the line more and form a roaming partnership with fellow half Kane Elgey against Canberra on Sunday.
"I want to see my ball players take the line on," Brennan said.
"I don't want them sticking to one side of the field ... which they have done in the past.
"I want them to play what they see, not structured and locked into certain areas."
Brennan's mentoring role was revealed when he took the Titans job in October, with Taylor subsequently putting pen to paper on a new three-year deal worth a reported $1 million a season.
"Mentoring from a distance, I never went there on game plans, that was other people's job and wasn't going to step on toes," Brennan said.
"That's the change, more now working on a team basis than an individual level.
"I won't discourage Ash from doing what he does well (and use his kicking game) but I want him to run the ball more, there's no doubt about that."
Meanwhile Brennan says the club is in talks with several players as it seeks to comply with laws requiring clubs to have at least 29 fully-contracted players on the books.
Last week's defection of Karl Lawton to New Zealand left the club with just 27.
"I couldn't stand in the way when he was promised an NRL spot, not to say he wouldn't have here, but I couldn't promise him that," Brennan said.
"We're certainly looking and you've got to fill the quota, but don't want to sign someone just to fill a spot in 2018.
"We're working with the NRL but it's not an advantage (to have less players contracted), it's probably a disadvantage because we don't have the depth."
Share
