Taylor played for Sydney's
Western Suburbs Magpies from 1990 to 1993. Starting from the bench for the first two games of the 1990 season, Taylor spent most of the season playing five-eighth outside
Ivan Henjak. Still a teenager, he was often called "baby-faced". In what was a poor season for the Magpies, Taylor was described as "the best of the babies" in the NSWRL for the season. 1991 saw the arrival of premiership-winning former
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs coach
Warren Ryan and big-name, premiership-winning former Bulldogs players
Andrew Farrar,
David Gillespie and
Paul Langmack at the Magpies. Taylor, now playing halfback, led the team to its first semi-finals appearance in nine years after starring in a play-off for fifth spot. Later that season, Ryan suspended Taylor from first grade after an "outburst" aimed at Langmack at half-time in a match. The Wests Magpies board later overturned the suspension. In 1993, Taylor made his representative debut with
City Origin, playing from the bench. Described as "the form player of the premiership" in 1994,
Country Rugby League general manager David Barnhill claimed that Taylor should be eligible to play for the Country team due to his time spent at St. Gregory’s. He ended up playing halfback for City for the next two years. Taylor was also selected to play for the
New South Wales team in the
1993 State of Origin series. He was chosen on the bench for all three games, but did not take the field in the first game of the series. Coach
Phil Gould said, "if anything happened to
Ricky we needed a capable and experienced halfback to go in with a similar game-type to Ricky. Jason's kicking and passing game is along the same lines and would allow fellows like
Daley and
Fittler the same room as if they were playing with Ricky." Taylor played with the
North Sydney Bears from 1994 to 1999. While at North Sydney, Taylor played a pivotal role in the team and set numerous records. Taylor also won
Rothmans Medal in 1996 as the game's best and fairest player. Taylor has scored more points for the
North Sydney Bears than any other player to have ever played for the club with 1274 points. In January 1997, Taylor was escorted from the
Sydney Cricket Ground following unruly behaviour at a
one-day international cricket match. It was alleged that Taylor and some of his North Sydney teammates had been backing up from a
buck’s party the night before when they proceeded to urinate in plastic cups and throw it over patrons during a
Mexican wave. Taylor was then axed as an
Australia Day ambassador by Central Coast organisers. In the 1997 preliminary final against the
Newcastle Knights, Taylor missed three out of five conversions in North Sydney's 17–12 defeat, the most crucial when scores were locked at 12-12 after Taylor set up
Michael Buettner for a try moments before. With three minutes remaining, Norths had a chance to play in their first grand final in 54 years if Taylor were to kick the subsequent goal. The normally reliable Taylor missed the conversion and Newcastle player
Matthew Johns went down the other end of the field and kicked a field goal to make it 13–12. With seconds remaining, Norths frantically threw the ball around the field, only to lose possession. Newcastle player
Owen Craigie swooped on a loose pass and raced away to score the match-sealing try. This was North Sydney's fourth preliminary final defeat in six years. In the
1998 NRL season, Taylor made 26 appearances as Norths finished fifth on the table. Taylor played in both finals matches against
Parramatta and
Canterbury-Bankstown, both of which ended in defeat. Taylor captained Norths in what would be the club's last season in the top grade. He played in North Sydney's last game in the
NRL which came against
North Queensland at the
Willows Sports Complex. Taylor scored two tries and kicked three goals in a 28–18 victory. Taylor remained with North Sydney for their merger with the
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to form the
Northern Eagles in 2000, but was released by the club at the end of the season. Without a club for the next year, Taylor wrote a letter to
Parramatta Eels coach
Brian Smith and joined the club for the 2001 season. His performance that year was described as "close to the greatest comeback ever in big-time rugby league." Taylor's last match was for Parramatta at in their
2001 NRL grand final loss to the
Newcastle Knights. While at Parramatta, Taylor set a new all-time point-scoring record, breaking
Daryl Halligan's mark of 2,034. Between 1992 and 2000 (and across three clubs) Taylor played 194 games in succession, also a standing record, 20 games clear of
Hazem El Masri's 174. Taylor retired with the record for
most career points in the
National Rugby League and its predecessors. He scored 2,107 first grade career points, a mark later surpassed by Newcastle Knights halfback
Andrew Johns in July 2006, then again by
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs winger
Hazem El Masri in March 2009, then once again by
Melbourne Storm hooker
Cameron Smith in April 2019. He retired holding the record for most first grade career goals at 942 a mark later surpassed by
Cameron Smith in May 2016. Taylor was the
Australian Rugby League's top point-scorer in seasons 1996 and 1997. ==Coaching career==