Matty johns and co discussed this topic on his show, all in agreeance that hes a fullback and shouldn't be shoehorned into 5/8th just because we don't have one.
Matty also had a good old laugh when tallis said the broncos weren't that bad, something along the lines of "haha oh yeh just like Newcastle weren't that bad for the last 3 years" lol.
For those firmly in the Milford at 6 camp, how long does he get before he should be dropped? Barba got less than a season before you all hung him out to dry, same with Hoffman. I expect the same attitude for Milford?
The Barba situation is way different, and Hoffman's one is in another universe. The similarities end in that they were all 5/8s in their younger days and switched to fullback for first grade. Hoffman has been a fullback slash outside back for 5+ years at NRL level. Everyone agrees unanimously that he is not cut out for a playmaking role, and many believe he doesn't even have the skills to cut it as a link player. As for Barba, I don't know if you're arguing whether he didn't get enough time at fullback or 5/8, but they both are irrelevant. As a fullback, he came here in the position in which he made his name, won a Dally-M, and had already cemented. For whatever reasons, he stunk it up. He didn't have the luxury of "it's a new role for him, give it time". As for 5/8, he was put there because he was costing us games in defence and Hoffman was costing us games in attack. It was never intended to be a long term switch because Milford was coming here to do that role. Compare that to Milford - handful of thrown-in-the-deep-end games for Canberra last year, and what, two trial games in his first grade 5/8 career? And now, one game in his new team with a new coach and a new style, and a team that the coach admits is still experimental and nothing close to settled, and it's time to give up already? Please.
It is quite clear that the Broncos will likely sacrifice the first half of 2015 to benchmark the players and give Bennett a clearer picture of who makes the cut. I expect a core side of maybe 10-12 players cemented just after Origin, with the chosen players starting to develop proper combinations, Milford included, while others get taps on the shoulder and new signings get announced. If he's still struggling by the end of the year, and it seems to be the combinations with fellow core Broncos players, that's when we can start to be skeptical. But if our team as a whole is sucking profusely, especially in the forward pack, Milford isn't going to be able to do much anyway, so throwing the baby out with the bathwater would be a very foolish move. If fans can't accept a path of development based on long term success, and aren't willing to sit by as we make sacrifices in the short term, maybe they should find a new sport to armchair speculate about until next year?