The quiet confidence Sam Taylor has felt since the first day he was drafted is becoming louder. 

Softly-spoken and usually mellow off the field, Taylor has never been shy about a contest on the field, his fierce determination to win each and every contest plain for all to see.

“I’ve always been very competitive; I just hate losing,” he said. “Whatever I do, if it’s table tennis, cricket or anything, I just want to win. Anything competitive I just want to win.”

That competitive instinct has the 20-year-old setting lofty ambitions for his third season in the orange and charcoal.

Having cemented his spot in the GIANTS’ senior team in 2019 with 22 appearances across the season – including all four finals – Taylor is now keen on establishing his place in the league.

“My first two years I was really shy, just trying to learn my way, but I feel like now I’m very confident and I’ve set a few big goals for the year. They're ambitious,” he said. 

“I’d rather be overs than unders (with my goals). The last two years, I’ve sort of surprised myself how far I’ve come. But now I want to keep moving forward, keeping pushing forward." 

The tall defender, who is strong overhead and one-on-one, says the inner confidence he has felt since his name was called out on Draft night in 2017 is being fed and reflected by those around him.

“It’s not like I’m fighting against the world to achieve these things,” Taylor said. “I have people push me forward.

“I sometimes have chats with people saying, ‘This is what I want to do’, and they totally agree, and they’re like, ‘Okay, these are the things you need to do to hopefully achieve those things’.

“I just joined this football club, and I feel like every week I get more confident and I just try to keep pushing my boundaries and getting better.” 

Things are looking promising for Taylor as he progresses through his third pre-season with the GIANTS. 

For the first time since he joined the club, he says hasn’t had any niggles to worry about over summer, and his excitement and optimism is palpable – he grins and taps out an excited beat on the table as he talks about how things are tracking.

It is sometimes easy to forget how young the 2018 Rising Star nominee is – he says Nick Haynes has dubbed him the “oldest young player going around” – but with just two seasons under his belt, he is already a rusted-on member of the GIANTS’ back six.

Alongside experienced stars of the game like Haynes, Phil Davis and Heath Shaw, Taylor has found his niche in the back group, bringing versatility and dependability.

He likes to think of his place in the group as being on a spectrum. In terms of his preparation leading into a game, he’s “in between ‘Shawry’ and Phil – I like to look at stuff (to prepare), but also I remain calm and chill.” In terms of his style, he says he sits somewhere between Davis and Haynes. 

“I like to think I’m in between Haynes and Phil, because Phil locks down, beats his man, and obviously takes marks, but Haynes intercepts and just reads the play really well,” Taylor said.

“I like to be in between them, but also be versatile and play on talls, smalls, up and deep on the pitch.”

Taylor’s 2019 was a breakthrough year, with the only major hiccup a hamstring injury suffered during round 19, but he managed to get back in time for the GIANTS’ win over the Suns in round 23.

From there, he didn’t look back, stringing together a strong finals campaign, in which he featured in all four games.

“I was injured about a month before (finals) and I sort of lost my form, but just to get it back in the finals and play some good football, I was pretty stoked to end the season that way,” Taylor said. 

“But obviously the last game was pretty disappointing.”

Despite the result on September 28, Taylor says the overall feeling over the past four months has been a positive one.

“I feel like the group has been on a bit of a high since reaching the Grand Final. There’s a lot of confidence in the group,” he said.

“Our team is so strong and each line has so many different areas to it which can provide so much more.

“I feel like we’re better than last year, and if we can get things right throughout the year and make that top four, I feel like we’re a strong chance to do it again and be the best team in the competition.”

“I’ve got so much confidence in the group to achieve great things. There’s a lot to look forward to.”

Off the field, Taylor is embracing life in Sydney, which now feels like home to the Western Australian product.

He’s recently taken up surfing with fellow young GIANT Jackson Hately, which they’ve been working on on days off from the club.

“I always thought I wanted to surf, I’ve always had this idea in my head that surfing is a great thing to do,” Taylor said “I’ve always said I was going to become a surfer, but there wasn’t much behind it. 

“Even though it’s quite daunting at times, with a few waves smashing you, I love learning new things. That’s probably one of the things about me: I just love trying out new things, learning stuff and building as a person.”