Has his boss just given Wests Tigers coach Jason Taylor the proverbial kiss of death?
There are countless examples of rugby league coaches being shown the door not long after a CEO or a club board go public to say their job is safe.
Time will tell if Jason Taylor is next in line following his team’s meek surrender at the hands of the Raiders in Canberra on Saturday and club chief Justin Pascoe saying afterwards that the coach would be in his job at least until the end of this season.
The Wests Tigers obviously forgot to pack their defensive gear for the trip to the national capital because they were smashed 60-6 and were lucky the final score wasn’t even uglier.
Once again they lacked composure in attack, even though they had no trouble getting close to attacking the home side near the try line on several occasions.
The young halves, Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks, may be richly talented but lack the experience needed at this elite level.
But back to the coach.
Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe has reportedly thrown his support behind Jason Taylor, saying he will remain at the club until at least the end of 2016.
Pascoe labelled the performance against Canberra embarrassing, but added that he was happy with the progress coaching staff have made in the past six months.
He said there would be a review at the end of the season but denied Todd Payten or Ivan Clearly had been sounded out for Taylor’s job.
If Taylor knows his rugby league history, and no doubt he would, he will be a worried man right now.
The only thing that will probably save him now is a win against Souths and a few more after that.
The truth is if the club’s losing streak continues the pressure to act will be too strong for the club board and front office.
And the coach is, rightly or wrongly, the only one in the firing line.
