Taylor celebrates milestone game and a memorial match victory

The Bathurst Giants player brought up 50 games for the club in his side's 6-11-47 to 2-9-21 victory over the Orange Tigers at George Park 1, with the hosts claiming the spoils in the Oscar Mann Memorial.

Giants produced a consistent game in challenging conditions - putting away at least one goal per quarter - while they were able to keep the Tigers goal-less over a strong second half defensive effort.

Taylor was a junior foundation member of the Giants but took time away from the game between now and then to focus on other sports.

He said it was great to bring up a milestone game and get a win on a special day for the club.

"I played a lot with 'Ossie'. We were very close friends towards the end," he said.

"It was great that we could get a win for his memorial game, and on the day of my 50^th game as well.

"I first started playing with the Giants in under 12s, back when the club first started, and had a couple of years away here and there but I've been pretty consistent the whole way through juniors.

"I've played a little bit of everywhere for the Giants. I spent some time in the back line, bit of time in the forward line and every game since then in first grade I've played on the wing."

Cooper Brien led the way for the Giants on Saturday with two goals while Jack Goodsell was named best on ground for the home side.

In the wet conditions it took some time for both sides to get themselves settled in the contest.

Accuracy was an issue for each team but Giants could be pleased by the way they applied themselves on the defensive end.

"It was a fairly consistent performance. I felt that as the game went on we got better and better at controlling the ball and getting centre clearances," Taylor said.

"We kicked a few points and we were touch better coming into the 50m.

"It was very muddy and wet. We struggled early keeping our feet. As the game went on we got better around the ball and we were setting ourselves up a lot better."

Taylor said the lead up towards the opening game had been a positive experience.

"Everyone was super keen to get into this season. Talking amongst my mates, we really wanted to get started this season to see what our game would look like," he said.

"Having someone like Jayden Nelder around the team is great. Him and the likes of Sam Sloan have played a massive role in getting us ready to play in round one."

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