Elijah Taylor: Salford's 2021 signing on how faith helped him cope with betrayal

Elijah Taylor spent five seasons at Wests Tigers before moving to Salford this winter

For four years, Elijah Taylor played rugby league at the highest level in Australia's National Rugby League with the weight of betrayal on his shoulders.

The 30-year-old New Zealand international, who has joined Super League side Salford for 2021, discovered his player-manager Ian Miles - a man he thought of as like a father - had misappropriated $400,000 (£211,000) from his personal account over the course of his career.

It would take those four years for justice to be served last November, when a judgement awarded Taylor damages, costs and money owed in excess of $400,000.

However, Miles filed for bankruptcy before the case, leaving Taylor with little chance of recovering a cent.

The power of faith has been a bedrock throughout the stressful wait.

"I suppose if I didn't know Christ or follow him, I would be extremely angry and lost it, done stupid things," Taylor told BBC Sport.

"But having forgiveness, it's given me a steady headspace. It's helped me through the last four years.

"In my career I've been blessed, I've played first-grade NRL at a high level, I don't have anything to complain about.

"But when you think about the $400,000, you just think 'man'. And I've never seen a dollar of that."

New country, new ambitions

Taylor's five-year association with Wests Tigers ended at the completion of the 2020 season, with the switch to Super League giving the Hawera-born back-rower and his family a fresh start.

While he waits for lockdown to end so that his wife and children can make the journey from Sydney, Taylor has been getting to know his new team-mates and head coach in Richard Marshall.

"People have had it tough and it's brought the team together," Taylor said. "When we come to training we try to make it fun while working hard, bit of banter, which is always healthy.

"Richard has been very authentic and thorough in the way we train and the way we go about our business, very 'attention to detail'.

"I've had a lot of coaches in my career and been under a lot of regimes and this is one of the best so far, and he's bringing together a group of guys that believe in something and believe we can do something this year."

Proving yourself again

Elijah Taylor played 11 Tests for New Zealand and was part of the World Cup squad in 2017

Taylor built a reputation as a hard-working back-rower who can also slot in at hooker when needed from his career in the NRL, which started back at the New Zealand Warriors.

Despite playing union as an All Black-worshipping youngster in his native New Zealand, it was Sonny Bill Williams and the 2004 Bulldogs side that whetted his appetite for rugby league, and led him to joining the Warriors in 2007.

After coming through the Warriors system, he made his international bow in his debut NRL season, and went on to impress at Penrith and the Tigers - scoring 25 tries in 186 games.

Even with all that experience and the excitement about his arrival, there is something of the 'first day at a new school' in terms of establishing himself in the squad.

"I was at the Tigers for a long time, and when you've been somewhere that length of time you get comfortable, people know what you can do," Taylor added.

"But coming to a new competition, and a new team, you've got to prove yourself and I've got to keep doing that, earn players respect, the captain's respect and the coach's respect.

"I can only do that by working hard for my teammates which I've done in the past and will do the same here."

Time to discover, hopefully

Elijah Taylor has Jerusalem on his bucket list of places to visit while in England as it is more easily accessible than from Australia

As well as getting used to the weather, with snow and rain causing chaos in the north west, the experience of a different culture and way of life are an interesting aside to the job of playing 'footy'.

As is the gateway to Europe and beyond that being based in England brings, once Covid-19 is brought under control and lockdowns are lifted.

"A lot of players that have come here, I spoke to them in the NRL, were saying travel is a really good thing when you come to England, all the countries are pretty close," Taylor said.

"My first job is to play my best football for Salford, and then after lockdown is lifted we can go and see some places.

"As a Christian I'd love to go to Jerusalem and I'd also love to go to Egypt."

A man at peace

Despite all the disappointment, trauma and upset that had tracked Taylor's life during the past four years, in addition to shoulder, rib and pectoral injuries keeping him off the paddock, he remains level headed and positive going into a new chapter.

"It took me four years to get to the court case, and to get the judgement which is something I was always confident of getting, was kind of a weight off the shoulder to prove I'm right," he continued.

"But thinking someone you trusted, you took on honeymoon because he was like a dad to me, you think to yourself, 'How can people do that? How do they sleep at night?'

"But we're content, as long as we've got a place to stay and clothes, as the Bible says. I've got a beautiful family. We've just moved to a new country, I'm very privileged to do what I do, and we're content."