Taylor took the prestigious senior first grade best and fairest honours with a haul of 16 points during the Bathurst Giants' minor premiership season, putting him clear of Dubbo Demons' Tom Byrnes (13) and Bathurst teammate Jack Goodsell (11).

Goodsell led the voting tally at the midway point of the season but Taylor's brilliant performances in the Giants' run towards a grand final appearance took him to the top.

He took maximum points from the Giants' 50-point win over the Orange Tigers and backed that up the next week with another three-point haul in the team's derby success over the Bushrangers.

In the following meeting with the Tigers Taylor was once again too much for his Orange opponents, adding another three points to his name.

It's Taylor's first best and fairest prize in any AFL Central West competition since starting in the competition at a junior level around eight years ago.

"I'm really pleased with how the year went and it was good to finally get an award like that. It's the first one I've ever got," Taylor said.

"I was normally a backman. Had some time in the forwards but then moved to the midfield this year, and it tends to be a midfielders award.

"I really enjoyed playing there. I like getting the ball in my hand and using it and there's no better way to do that then by playing in the midfield.

"I think we had the best midfield in the comp, with Nic Broes being a great user of the ball, and we also got Aiden Macauley back in the second half of the year."

Taylor also enjoyed the opportunity to co-coach the AFL Central West senior men's representative side, alongside senior men's tier two best and fairest champion Mitch Stubberfield.

"That was a really good experience. It helped my footy career around here too," Taylor said.

"Getting to play with the most talented players across the league is great. It was good captaining that group."

Giants were just one game away from their maiden senior men's title when the latest COVID-19 lockdown hit the region.

"It's probably the most successful year of senior football we've had as a club at the Giants," Taylor said.

"It was probably the year to go all the way, seeing as we might lose a couple of players next year, but there's not much you can do about that."

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