Taylor is determined to take '˜bonus' chance with England

New head coach Wayne Bennett is currently awash with front-row options shown by the players he both selected and left out of his squad for the one-off Test with France and Four Nations.

South Sydney’s Burgess twins George and Tom are included along with Canterbury Bulldogs’ James Graham, Warrington Wolves captain Chris Hill and St George Illawarra’s Mike Cooper.

One of the world’s greats – Sam Burgess – can also operate at prop while the likes of St Helens’ in-form duo Alex Walmsley and Kyle Amor plus Taylor’s Hull colleague Liam Watts are some of the unfortunate ones to miss out.

Taylor has been rewarded for his fine campaign where, after joining Hull from Wigan Warriors, he led the club he supported as a boy to a famous Challenge Cup win at Wembley and third in Super League, their best finish in a decade.

He told The Yorkshire Post: “I’m absolutely buzzing.

“Obviously, I didn’t know what the score would be and, naturally, you doubt yourself at times thinking they might go with so and so.

“But whatever happened I knew I could be proud of the season I’d had. If I got in with England it’d be a bonus so, to then get the call from (England football manager) Jamie Peacock, I was over the moon.

“We go into camp on Saturday and I’ll just be doing everything I can tomake an impact.

“I’ll be training hard and if I get a chance – no matter for how long – I’ll be giving it my all, making sure there’s no regrets.

“There’s no one who wants to play for England more than I do.”

Taylor, of course, has represented his country once before, when still a Hull KR player against the Exiles in 2012 but that was not deemed as a full cap.

He recalled: “It was a great experience but I was fairly young for a front-row, only 21 and quite raw really. I was taken aback by a lot of it but, going into this now, I feel I’m there on merit.

“I deserve to be in this squad and feel I can hold my own with all the other boys in it. I’m more than confident I can give them a go.

“Now I’ve made the cut, I’ll be doing all I can to make sure I do play my first Test and make sure Bennett has made the right decision picking me.

“I’ve grown up watching Test matches, World Cups and Four Nations, seen them at the KC, seen GB v New Zealand at Huddersfield and, back then, you never ever think it’s something you can do yourself.

“It would be unbelievable to do that now.”

One of the main talking points is there are not more Hull players included.

Uncapped Danny Houghton, the hooker who won the Steve Prescott Man of Steel last week, misses out to Canberra Raiders’ Josh Hodgson and ex-Castleford Tigers No 9 Daryl Clark.

Like Houghton and Taylor, Hull full-back Jamie Shaul was named in the Super League Dream Team but is not included here.

Bennett has chosen Warrington’s Stefan Ratchford and – his surprise pick – Jonny Lomax, the St Helens player who is undoubtedly talented but missed the first three months of the season due to a second knee reconstruction.

Taylor, 25, continued: “Three or four other Hull lads could have been in there especially Danny Houghton who’s a good mate of mine. He’s Man of Steel and it’s madness when you look at it. That’s no disrespect to the other boys but when the new Man of Steel can’t even get in the England team it shows how tough competition really is.

“It’d have been nice to see one or two more Hull lads in there but it’s not meant to be. I’ll be representing Hull with pride, though.”

Meanwhile, there is uncertainty around whether Hull – who qualify as Challenge Cup winners – will take part in the World Club Series next February after NRL Grand Final runners-up Melbourne Storm pulled out.

Storm have declined their place in order to prepare better for the 2017 domestic campaign and, according to reports, another 10 NRL clubs have also turned down invites to take part in the expanded three-game series which has only been running two years.

It means that, unless Super League runners-up Warrington and FC are prepared to travel to Australia – both are exploring the feasibility – the format will most likely revert to a single one-off match between the respective champions Wigan and Cronulla in the UK.

Elsewhere, relegated Hull KR have received another boost as they prepare for life in the Championship with player of the year Maurice Blair, 32, not only agreeing to see out the final season of his contract but extending his stay until the end of 2018, too.

Hull KR’s head of rugby Jamie Peacock said: “Bobby is a man of real loyalty and integrity and he was on board straight away when we opened discussions about next season. To retain our reigning player of the year is a real statement of intent ahead of 2017.”