Former $1million-a-year star Ash Taylor RETIRES aged just 27 

Ash Taylor has gone from being paid $1million a year with the Gold Coast in 2017 to retiring aged just 27, it has been reported.

A chronic hip injury will spell the end for Taylor after he played just one game for the New Zealand Warriors this year, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The halfback said he had ‘both my hips shaved back’ during the 2020 offseason while he was still with the Titans.

‘They’ve been giving me trouble for a few years now and it was just time to get it done and hopefully that frees me up on the field,’ he explained.

The complaint kept him out for four weeks in 2021 – his last campaign with the Titans before the Warriors gave him a $1,000-a-week training contract for 2022.

It was a far cry from his $1million-a-year, three-year deal with the Gold Coast, which he signed in 2017 and earned with a stunning run of form.

Taylor played made his NRL debut for the Broncos in 2015, playing just one game for them after starring for the Junior Kangaroos and Queensland under-20s, and winning the Holden Cup player of the year award.

He was released so he could chase a first-grade spot with the Gold Coast, which he did to the tune of 114 games.

Taylor had a great 2016 as the Titans made the finals, but came back to earth along with the team the following season, when they finished second last.