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Once Aaron Woods told NRL 360 he wouldn’t have any contract talks until the Wests Tigers coaching job was settled, it was the end of the road for Jason Taylor.
Skipper Woods gave the impression he was talking on behalf of the other three young-gun footballers James Tedesco, Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks.
Without that quality quartet, there would be no valid reason for the Tigers to turn up to play.
Let’s turn back the clock.
Around the turn of the century, there were three amalgamations – the bane of rugby league.
Manly and the Bears became the ill-fated Northern Eagles, which quickly saw Manly gobble up the Bears to regain their own identity.
St George and Illawarra were amalgamated, with the Dragons taking control, even though the double-barrel club name survives.
But the amalgamation of two 1908 foundation clubs – Balmain and Western Suburbs – was the most brutal.
Both clubs had a strong individual tradition and culture over 90-plus years, and were never going to be a happy family. It was a bad call by the NRL.
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How hard has it been for the original superstars trying to follow a bastardised club they never played for?
Like Harry Bath, Artie Beetson, Wayne Pearce, Benny Elias, and Paul Sironen for Balmain, and Noel Kelly, Harry Wells, Keith Holman, and Tommy Raudonikis for Wests.
But the big question is who would take on the poison chalice of coaching the amalgamated club?
The Tigers’ track record is the coaching kiss of death, with the one exception of Tim Sheens from 2003-2012 that included a premiership among his 49 per cent wins.
Wayne Pearce in 2000 had a 42 per cent win rate, Terry Lamb from 2001-2002 had 30 per cent, Mick Potter from 2013-2014 had 35 per cent, and Jason Taylor from 2017 to this week had 39 per cent.
It looks as though former Warriors and Panthers coach Ivan Cleary will be the next coach to step up to the Wests Tigers plate, with a career of 49 per cent wins.
The big difference for the 46-year-old will be the outstanding talents of Woods, Tedesco, Moses and Brooks.
If it’s Cleary, he must target three areas.
First, tell the wishy-washy board to back off, it’s the Cleary way or the highway, as he tries to mould a culture in a club that should never have surfaced.
Secondly, get the side back in the winner’s circle.
Second takes care of the third target: to keep the current sponsors interested. Without them, Wests Tigers could be heading for oblivion, as the NRL would buck at financially propping up another club.
But in the light of day, the way and the timing of Jason Taylor’s sacking leaves a bad taste.
He survived the demotion of Robbie Farah last season, missed last yeas finals by a point, and started this season playing superb rugby league.
So how did that side play like Z-graders in Rounds 2 and 3?
We won’t know until one of them writes a book down the track, but it’s a done deal now, and for the sake of rugby league, if it’s Ivan Cleary to steer the ship, let it be a straight and successful course.