Kicking Goals

When we meet with Taylor to snap her for our cover, the beautiful blonde is petrified – “It’s hard for me to smile with my mouth open as I don’t like my teeth”, “Am I in the right stance?” “Could someone please make me laugh?” she asks with a nervous laugh.

Her confidence in front of the camera is the complete antithesis of how she acts while on the field playing NRL for the Manly Mermaids and AFL for Manly Warringah Wolves.  

“I’ve played sport my whole life, whereas this is the first cover shoot I’ve ever done!” she reasons. 

“From a young age, my parents had me involved in a range of sports like soccer, swimming, netball, waterpolo, touch football, futsal and eagle tag,” the 23-year-old explains. 

“I love sport because I find it an awesome way of staying fit and exercising without having to focus on how hard your pushing yourself.” 

However, why play both AFL and rugby union at such a high level? 

“I like a challenge. I like keeping busy and I think it also comes down to being really bad at decision making. AFL and union sounded great, so I thought, why not do both?” she explains.

However, sport isn’t the only fitness in her exercise regime… 

“I’m usually up at 4.45am to head to Code 5 in Brookvale to do a weights session followed by cardio, then later on if I’m feeling up to it, I go back and do another session before AFL or rugby training. As you can see, I do love exercise quite a bit!” she laughs. 

During the day, Taylor’s life is a little different to her out of-hour’s schedule – she’s a primary school educator – having completed a four-year university degree. 

“I’ve had some awesome experiences along the way including teaching in Kenya. It was honestly the best thing I’ve ever done in my life, and an experience I find extremely hard to completely explain to someone,” she muses.

“I’ve always loved kids and the idea of being able to make a positive impact on their development and life in general.” 

So, what’s coming up for the fitness fanatic? Apart from an eight-week trip to Europe, she’s about to move in with her boyfriend – staying this side of the bridge, of course. 

“You can’t beat this area. I feel so lucky to have been brought up here. I love that the North Shore promotes a healthy lifestyle. Everywhere you go, there are joggers, swimmers and cyclists, there’s so many gyms, and just people generally waking up early to get the most out of their day. I think it’s great and something to really appreciate it,” she says. 

Taylor’s top fitness and nutrition tips

• Develop routines that will become habits. 
• Change up your fitness routine every so often and challenge yourself. 
• If you are looking to drop body fat, incorporate weight training as well as cardio into your routine. 
• 80% of the time eat clean and healthy, and 20% of the time, treat yourself. 
• If you have time, food prep. Have healthy food ready to eat so you’re not reaching for something unhealthy.