Panther to Tiger: Elijah Taylor moves to Wests

Elijah Taylor. Photo / Getty

Former New Zealand international Elijah Taylor has been released by Penrith to join NRL rivals Wests Tigers for the rest of the season.

Taylor has spent the best part of 2016 languishing in reserve grade after being dropped in round three by Panthers coach Anthony Griffin.

On Monday afternoon, Penrith released a statement saying they had let Taylor go after two-and-a-half years at the club and the Wests Tigers subsequently announced they had signed the 26-year-old backrower.

Taylor's manager, Ian Miles, had late last week told AAP of his client's interest in switching codes to have a crack at rugby union in which he represented Auckland as a teenager.

Following this week's representative round, Taylor will join his new teammates at Wests Tigers training and will be in line to make his debut for the club in round 10 against Canterbury.

An 80-minute workhorse, Taylor will add solid depth to the Tigers' forward stocks having played 106 NRL games between the Warriors and Panthers and 10 Tests for New Zealand.

"I haven't played a lot of first grade this year so I'm really looking forward to the opportunity," said Taylor.

"I'm also looking forward to working with experienced players such as Robbie Farah and Aaron Woods."

Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe says Taylor will be on trial for a longer stay at the club."We have initially signed Elijah for the remainder of the 2016 season but we look forward to developing a long-term relationship for him as the year progresses," he said.