SACKED rugby league journeyman Dave Taylor could be thrown a sporting lifeline in Australia.

Having been axed by the Toronto Wolfpack last week for breaking curfew, the man dubbed ‘Coal Train’ will be hard pressed finding an NRL contract.

But the Ipswich Jets are prepared to take a gamble on the former Queensland Origin forward who’s played 181 NRL games with four clubs.

Jets coach Shane Walker told NRL.com Taylor would be welcome at the Queensland Cup club.

Round 19

Walker runs a recruitment company and says he would find Taylor a job and even help him to buy a house to get his life back on track.

“You can be at an NRL club on a minimum wage, or play at the Jets and have a job and earn equally as much without the demands,” Walker said.

“Some of those sort of things we could help provide for Dave if that’s what he wants. We’d certainly be prepared to have a yarn to him.”

Walker has spoken previously about Taylor and the possibility of him becoming a star five-eighth for the Jets.

Dave Taylor in action for the Raiders. Source: Getty Images

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NRL JOURNEYMAN GOES BUSH

Retired NRL journeyman Jeff Robson has found a new home on the south coast.

Robson has signed on to play for Dapto in the Illawarra competition this year.

He played 177 NRL games for Manly, Cronulla, Parramatta, and the Warriors, and moves south to replace fellow former NRL player Beau Henry at the Canaries.

Robson will join former NRL players Michael Henderson, Joel Reddy, and Keith Lulia at the club.

“We were pretty lucky to sign Robbo. He finished up in the NRL and he was keen to play on so it was a good fit for us and hopefully a good fit for him as well,” captain-coach Henderson told the Illawarra Mercury.

Jeff Robson has signed with Dapto. Source: News Corp Australia

NEW KNIGHTS COMBO GET FIRST CRACK AT STORM

Newcastle recruits Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga will play their first game together in a closed trial against Melbourne next month.

Knights coach Nathan Brown told the Newcastle Herald the two star recruits will travel south to take on the Storm at AAMI Park on February 7.

Pearce will play at halfback and Ponga is expected to spend time at fullback during the trial.

“I’ll reward a few of the younger guys who have stood out during the pre-season and all our new players will definitely make the trip,” Brown said.

“How many minutes we play them is hard to say at this stage but we want to give them as much time as possible to work on combinations in match conditions before round one.”

Meanwhile the Warriors will also use the Storm to test out their new recruits.

Stephen Kearney has indicated centres Peta Hiku and Anthony Gelling, prop Agnatius Paasi and second rower Leivaha Pulu will all take part in the trial against Melbourne on February 17.

Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga at Knights training. Source: News Corp Australia

FENSOM REHAB NOT ALL ROSY

His thumbs up to the crowd as he departed ANZ Stadium on the medicab with a badly broken leg was one of the moments of the 2017 grand final that will never be forgotten.

But Shaun Fensom’s road to recovery continues.

Speaking to media on Tuesday, Cowboys front-rower Scott Bolton commented on how good it was to see Fensom back up and on his feet, hinting that he could even be ready to return as early as round one.

Cowboys officials have confirmed to foxsports.com.au that is not the case as the 29-year-old remains in the rehab group and is not yet back to full training.

Even still, his presence at training is providing a great boost to other Cowboys players sweating it out in the Townsville heat.

“It’s good to see him around. Obviously I’ve done a bit of training with him as well over the pre-season,” Bolton said.

“It’s good to see that he’s back walking around and hopefully he’s about ready to go around round one as well.”

STAR JILLAROOS STILL SIDELINED

Two of Australia’s stars have been ruled out of the upcoming Commonwealth Nines Championships in Brisbane.

Kezie Apps and Sam Bremner remain sidelined with injury, and will be left out of the Jillaroos squad when coach Brad Donald names it later this month.

Apps recently had another surgery to remove screws and a plate from her leg, while Bremner is still recovering from a stress fracture sustained during the World Cup.

“It is recovering a bit slower than we expected and we don’t know why that is,” Bremner told NRL.com.

“I kept running on it for two weeks, which wouldn’t have helped.

“It is definitely healing, there is a big callus around it but you can still see the crack, which means it is healing but it is not strong yet. I need to be back and healthy for our Origin match in June, so there is no rush.”