Ben Taylor signs on with the Ararat Rats after a year in the SANFL

Ben Taylor has signed with the Rats for season 2022 after previously committing to the club for the cancelled 2020 season.

After spending a year away from the Wimmera last season, Taylor said he "always knew" he was going to come back to Ararat.

"It was a pretty easy decision to play for the Rats," he said.

"I wanted to play in the Wimmera League to keep my footy to a good standard and I have a lot of mates here too.

"I have got a bit of unfinished business with the club after the commitment I made in 2020."

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Taylor said the playing list the club had assembled was really promising.

'I definitely think we can at least be a top three team this year, if not go all the way," he said.

"We definitely have the group to win it, it is pretty exciting."

Taylor is originally from Stawell playing his junior football with the Warriors where he was selected in the Wimmera School Boys and North Ballarat Rebels Junior Pathway Programs.

He proceeded to transfer to the Stawell Swifts for two seasons, winning the 2017 and 2018 Senior Best & Fairest awards.

During his time at the Swifts he was a two-time HDFL interleague representative and was voted HDFL best opposition player of 2018.

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Towards the end of 2020, a coach from Taylor's time playing for St Mary's in the NTFL during the 2018-19 season connected with him and enquired whether he was interested playing in the SANFL the following season.

"The opportunity came up and I thought it would be a good thing to do for my footy," Taylor said.

"I missed the first five games with hip surgery, although I was able to work my way into the team and I ended up getting nine games in before my season was cut short.

"I came home in August with four games to go to catch up with family and a big spike in COVID-19 hit and they shut the borders and I didn't get a chance to finish the season.

"It was a really good challenge for me, the football was of a really high standard."

The midfielder ended up kicking four goals in his nine games for the North Adelaide Roosters during his time stint in the SANFL.

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