Taylor key as Tigers prepare for Roosters

Tigers coach Jason Taylor's inside knowledge of his former club the Roosters shapes as a crucial factor in the sides' NRL clash on Friday.

Jason Taylor shapes as a crucial factor in the Sydney Roosters-Wests Tigers round nine NRL clash at Allianz Stadium on Friday.

The former Roosters premiership-winning assistant coach has rejuvenated the Tigers into genuine finals contenders this season, after leaving Bondi for Concord at the end of last year.

The Tigers have a horrible record against the Tricolours having won just one of the last nine matches between the sides.

But Taylor can help turn that around believes Tigers utility Dene Halatau.

"We have one of their former assistant coaches in 'JT' with us now so there is going to be some insight into how they went about beating us in the past and we will try and fix that ourselves," Halatau said at training on Monday.

"I would think it is an advantage, he has been pretty close to a lot of those guys and he will have a good insight about how they play."

Halfback Luke Brooks added: "He might have a few inside tips about how the Roosters play".

However the Tigers are wary of a desperate Roosters who have slumped to four successive losses, their worst losing run since coach Trent Robinson joined the club in 2013.

"They have played good footy in a lot of the games, they have only lost by a few points," Brooks said.

"They are still a good team and have a good attack with Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck coming into form."

Brooks will make his comeback from a quad injury, that ruled him out of City-Country. However winger Pat Richard was seen training on his own at Concord Oval on Monday and may be in doubt.

Halatau said the representative break came at a good time for the struggling Roosters.

"Having those losses and the time off to reflect on that I'm sure they will be keen to get their season back on track," he said.

The Roosters will welcome back Queensland back-rower Aidan Guerra from a broken jaw for the match.


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Source: AAP


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