Gold Coast halfback Ash Taylor has conceded the speculation around a potential State of Origin debut affected his last performance for the Titans.

Taylor admitted his own effort in Gold Coast’s embarrassing 34-0 thumping to Brisbane last Sunday wasn’t good enough.

He was so critical of his display, the 23-year-old called it one of the worst of his 62-game NRL career.

Taylor shot into contention for a Queensland berth until Maroons coach Kevin Walters opted for Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans instead for Wednesday night’s game three.

He says he will better equipped to deal with the Origin hype next year and will keep going to Titans coach Garth Brennan for advice about how to deal with the pressure.

“It was pretty tough not making the team for starters and it took a pretty hard toll on myself,” Taylor told reporters on Wednesday.

“I’ll just try and block that out next time.

“(Brennan) chats to me during the week and I think it got a bit overwhelming with all the chat that was going on and it all mounted up.

“To put a performance like that out wasn’t good enough and I’d happily admit that.”

While Taylor says the hype of Origin got to him, he isn’t willing to use a calf issue he has been dealing with as an excuse.

He is recovering from the injury complaint as best he can to ensure he plays better in the Titans’ clash with the Roosters on Sunday.

“I don’t want to make any excuses for my performance on the weekend,” Taylor said.

“It wasn’t up to standard and I know that and everyone else knows that as well.

“The best thing about it is you can come back and turn up the next week so I’m just going to rock up next week and try to play one of my best performances of the season.”