Prince gives nod to Ash

Young half has class to carry the Titans to title

FORMER Titans halfback Scott Prince believes Ash Taylor is the No.7 who can deliver the Gold Coast an NRL premiership.

Taylor, 23, will go toe-to-toe with Manly dynamo and the Gold Coast’s ‘‘public enemy No.1’’ Daly Cherry-Evans, 29, in Gladstone on Sunday.

Cherry-Evans should have been wearing the Titans halfback jersey which now belongs to Taylor.

The Sea Eagles skipper signed a $4 million deal with the Titans in March, 2015, only to backflip three months later to stay at Manly on an eightyear contract.

To rub salt into the Gold Coast’s wounds, CherryEvans’ $10 million Manly deal was scrutinised during the NRL’s salary cap investigation which saw the Sea Eagles sanctioned last week.

The Queensland State of Origin star’s decision to abandon the Titans was seen as a dagger to the Gold Coast’s heart, but they snared one of the game’s brightest young prospects in Taylor from the Broncos a few months later.

Prince, who helped the Titans to a preliminary final in 2010, said Taylor had the potential to guide the Gold Coast to their first NRL title.

“DCE could have come here and killed it but to have picked up Ash after missing out on DCE was a massive coup,” he said. “It’s not like they went from Daly CherryEvans, who was a State of Origin player, to scraping the barrel with a second-stringer.

“They picked up a good one. They are certainly on a winner.

“We all thought Ash would never leave the Broncos. The Broncos don’t usually let quality players like Ash slip through their fingers.

“The Titans have a great opportunity to build a team around him. It seems he’s got a really good relationship with the coach (Garth Brennan).

“I’d like to think Ash could (take the Titans to a grand final).”

Taylor, now a 50-game NRL player, has committed to Titans until 2021 on a deal worth $3 million and was exceptional in the Gold Coast’s upset 26-14 win against hosts Brisbane on Sunday night.