Within a week, bitter disappointment of losing the NRL final to Manly turned to pure excitement for the Vodafone Warriors' Elijah Taylor, who was called into the Kiwis squad ahead of their one-off test against the Kangaroos and the 2011 Four Nations Tournament in England.
"I was really disappointed after Sunday's grand final ... although I was happy with how I performed during the game ... but making the Kiwis has definitely put a smile back on my face," a chuffed Taylor said before leaving for Sydney yesterday. The team will assemble in Sydney and train for three days before heading to Newcastle for the Bill Kelly Cup test against the Kangaroos at Ausgrid Stadium on Sunday.
He added his mum Yvette and father Ron were delighted to hear the good news from their son.
The 21-year-old Taylor, who captained the Junior Warriors to their grandfinal win in 2010 before making his first grade debut earlier this year, along with teammate Krisnan Inu, and North Queensland winger Kalifa Faifai Loa were late inclusions in the squad. They will cover the Warriors' Manu Vatuvei and Shaun Johnson plus Manly's Steve Matai, who have been ruled out on medical grounds.
Taylor, who can play at centre, five-eighth or lock, did not expect to get a call up to the representative side so early in his football career, but he was going to make the most of this opportunity, he said.
"I'm really excited, especially if I get the opportunity to play during the tour. I'm looking forward to learning off players like Adam Blair and Jeremy Smith. There's a lot of top players in this squad, who have great wrestling/tackling techniques, and I'm willing to learn - and I know I will learn a lot."
The determined "workhorse" was also looking forward to talking to other players to gain a better understanding of different NRL club's cultures, and seeing how they tick, he added.
Not that Taylor planned on going anywhere else other than Mount Smart and the Warriors club set up for the next while.
"I'm really happy at the Warriors at the moment. It's a special club, it's the only New Zealand club in the NRL, I can't see myself leaving anytime soon."
Being a newbie in the Kiwis squad, Taylor said he did not know what level of football to expect in an international. "It's an unknown for me, but I can't see it being too much higher than an NRL match - which is fast and intense and the combinations in the team have been training together for five months. For an international, the combinations only have two weeks to train together."
Taylor did not expect to be included in the team to play Australia on Sunday, named today , but he was hopeful of getting some game time during the Four Nations Tournament, which will be Taylor's first time in the UK.
Following the Newcastle international, the Kiwis fly out to England for those Four Nations matches, against Australia in Warrington on October 28, Wales at Wembley Stadium in London on November 5 and England at KC Stadium in Hull on November 12.
Kiwi squad - 2011 ANZAC test
Gerard Beale, Adam Blair, Lewis Brown, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Nathan Fien, Kieran Foran, Alex Glenn, Krisnan Inu, Thomas Leuluai, Kevin Locke, Issac Luke, Sam McKendry, Simon Mannering, Sika Manu, Benji Marshall (c), Ben Matulino, Fuifui Moimoi, Jason Nightingale, Russell Packer, Kevin Proctor, Jeremy Smith, Elijah Taylor, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.