The door may be ajar for Ash Taylor at Brisbane but Benji Marshall says the Gold Coast playmaker must avoid a Broncos return if he wants to regain his mojo.
Brisbane director Darren Lockyer this week admitted they would welcome back ex-Bronco Taylor – albeit on a minimum wage – after Titans head of performance and culture Mal Meninga conceded he was open to a swap deal for the battling half.
But Marshall believed the intense spotlight at the Broncos was the last place Taylor should be as he struggles with his confidence.
Taylor, 24, was limited to just 10 NRL games this year after requesting personal leave to deal with the pressures of being the Titans’ highly paid marquee man.
Wily playmaker Marshall may have used his 2017 Broncos stint to rejuvenate his NRL career.
But he warned Taylor to resist the temptation to return to the club where he started his NRL journey in 2015.
Especially as the Broncos try to rebuild following their embarrassing 58-0 record elimination final loss to Parramatta.
“I don’t know if it would be the best place for Ash Taylor,” Marshall told Fox League’s NRL 360.
“This year I thought he struggled with the expectation and the pressure of being the highest paid player.
“If he goes to the Broncos I think it would be an even higher pressure situation being the guy looked at as the potential saviour to a club in crisis.
“I just don’t think it would be the best place for him.”
Marshall revelled in his 13-game stint at Red Hill two years ago, using it as a launching pad to re-sign with his beloved Wests Tigers where he is showing no signs of slowing down at 34.
But the veteran half said life under the Broncos microscope was tough – a fact he believed even new coach Anthony Seibold found out the hard way in 2019.
He claimed former South Sydney mentor Seibold was only just realising what he got himself into after enduring the fallout over their humiliating NRL finals exit.
Either way, Marshall warned Taylor – believed to be on more than $1 million a season at Gold Coast – to stay away from Brisbane.
“It’s a very high pressure club. You saw it this year with Seibold, and him probably not expecting how big that club is,” he said.
“I think for Ash it would be more pressure (at Brisbane) than it is at the Gold Coast.”
