FOLLOWING a successful four-week trial the Swindon Wildcats have agreed to take on Loris Taylor for the season.

Taylor, who is older brother to Swindon’s Floyd Taylor, approached player-coach Aaron Nell about joining the side at the end of last term.

Now with a pre-season and an opening weekend under his belt, the 25-year-old says he feels he is getting up to speed after working on his fitness throughout the closed-season.

After the club’s 8-2 win over Hull Pirates at the Link Centre on Saturday, Nell revealed Taylor would remain with the Cats for the entirety of the 2018/19 campaign.

“Both of us agreed that fitness was going to be a big thing for me over the summer,” said Taylor.

“I just have to do a job. I’ve been around for ages even though I am quite young, I understand my job is going to be to give people a bit of a break and not get scored on.

“Everything else is a bonus to what I do. Pre-season was good, the speed of the league is a little bit different but you’re playing with players like Max Birbraer, Edgars Bebris and Jan Kostal, who are such a high calibre of player.

“It’s quite easy to feed off of them, everyone is so good and that makes things easier.

“The speed was difficult at the start but I feel like I am getting used to it now and everything is a bit more natural.

“I feel alright out there now, I feel up to speed but obviously fitness is one of those things that is season long.”

The Wildcats enjoyed a perfect pre-season programme before beating Hull Pirates at home on Saturday.

The reverse fixture was slightly more difficult for Swindon, who were beaten 3-2 away from home but Taylor sees the positives.

“We had a great start to the year through pre-season, winning four out of four and then I think Saturday was a great performance from us,” he added.

“Sunday was a rough game and we didn’t get a lot of bounces. I don’t think any team would come close to getting the score we got.

“It shows the strength of our team, it shows how good we are and it’s important to make a good start.”