Ellis ruled out for six months after knee surgery
holders Catalans Dragons and, with ex-Hull prop Liam Watts in tow, will be keen to quickly make it two wins from two.
The Airlie Birds, though, are boosted by the return of two key players: England stand-off Jake Connor who served a one-game ban last week, and Joe Westerman, the former Tigers No 13 who has been injured since the 72-10 loss at Wakefield in July.
Rangy prop Taylor admitted: “It’s good to have them in.
“Obviously it’s Westy’s first game back and he might not be able to play big minutes but he’ll bring us that shape that he does.
“The big one is Jake, though, with his skill, talent, approach and what he brings with ball in hand. If he’d have played against Hull KR it might have been a different story.
“That’s no offence to Washy (makeshift No 6 Danny Washbrook); he’s a brilliant player and he’s filled in so many different positions for us and done a great job.
“But Jake gives you that international experience and skill that comes with his name, so it will be a big boost having him back.”
Taylor, meanwhile, looked impressive at former club Hull KR.
The 27-year-old suffered a disappointment when dropped by Wayne Bennett for England’s autumn international series against New Zealand.
He had been a regular squad member since the Australian came in to the job and toured for the 2017 World Cup but has now fallen down the pecking order.
“It is driving me on but I’ve not really thought about it too much,” insisted Taylor.
“I haven’t done a full pre-season in about three years and I definitely needed it; I was broken. I was chasing my tail and when I look back at last year I was only a few weeks back from the World Cup and then I was off back to Australia with Hull.
“I got appendicitis and played with that (against Wigan in Wollongong), was in hospital for five days and then flew home.
“I lost all that weight and then 10 days later I was back playing against Warrington, so I have been chasing my tail for a while.
“At the end of the day, I understand why I didn’t get picked (for England) as our form wasn’t very good, I was in a team that lost 11 games on the bounce and I wasn’t playing great either.
“But I’ve been back in since the fifth of November, trained as hard as I can and am lifting weights that I’ve not lifted in years.
“I’ve really toughened my body up.
“I’m excited for what the future holds personally and for Hull.” THE season is only one game old but luckless Castleford Tigers have now lost a second half-back to a serious injury.
They saw England No 7 Luke Gale ruled out for the entire year after rupturing his Achilles tendon in training last month.
But, ahead of tonight’s trip to Hull FC, the West Yorkshire club has also revealed Jamie Ellis could be out for up to six months after undergoing knee surgery.
The former Huddersfield Giants player initially suffered his injury in December.
“It’s a tough one and we need to look after him,” said Tigers head coach Daryl Powell.
“Jamie was going to play in the Featherstone (friendly), but he hurt his knee in the warm-up.
“We tried to rehab him, but he’s just been to see the specialist and he needs a micro-fracture in his knee, which is similar to what Luke Gale had (last year).
“The potential recovery time is between four and six months so he could be back in June or July depending on how he recovers.”
Castleford do still have four half-backs available with Super League Young Player of the Year Jake Trueman and recent signing Jordan Rankin set to continue against Hull this evening.
Ex-Kiwi star Benny Roberts and Cory Aston are also options for Powell whose side are now looking to back-up their opening night win over Catalans Dragons.
Hull lost their first game narrowly at Hull KR but do see England stand-off Jake Connor return from a ban for dissent.
Powell said: “I don’t think I need to remind the players about him. He does it every week.
“He’s just got to watch himself; getting binned, things like that doesn’t help your team. But he’s a quality player and everybody has their own personality and the way they like to play the game and his is a bit different to most.
“But he’s got the ability to pull it off so good luck to him.”