Wayne Bennett gave Benji Marshall a job when he joined Brisbane — look after Anthony Milford
Peter Badel, The Courier-MailMarch 23, 2017 6:43pm
WHEN Benji Marshall joined the Broncos over summer, coach Wayne Bennett gave him a simple instruction — look after Anthony Milford.
There was no madness to the method. Bennett believed Milford needed a mentor, an old dog who could teach a talented young pup a few tricks.
While Bennett’s shock signing of Marshall has raised eyebrows, his true value to the Broncos may ultimately be measured not by what he does on the field, but what he does for Milford off it.
Marshall lobbed at Red Hill as one of the squad’s fittest players. Milford reported for pre-season overweight.
As is the Brisbane way, Broncos players did not let Milford off the hook, ribbing him about the excess festive-season kilos he has spent the past two months diligently shedding.
But behind the laughs, Bennett got serious about Milford’s footballing education. He hollered for Marshall to provide the tough love.
Throughout his NRL coaching career, Bennett has driven his players by a core axiom — don’t stop three steps short. His mantra is if you stop three steps short in a training run, you stop short in the heat of battle.
It’s a lesson in mental toughness. Bennett doesn’t want Milford stopping three steps short. So Marshall sits on his shoulder at Red Hill, ramming home the philosophy.
It reached a flashpoint over summer. In the gym, the Broncos players were asked to punch out 10 repetitions on the bench press. Milford completed seven, then racked the barbell.
In this case, three reps short. Marshall, acting on Bennett’s orders, bristled.
“You were told to do 10, mate,” he said to Milford. The next time, Marshall counted every rep, making sure Milford completed 11.
It would be unfair to label Milford a poor trainer — he regularly does extras simulating matchwinning field goals — but at 22 he remains impressionable. Bennett is excising the bad habits.
Marshall, having learned harsh lessons himself in his 14-year NRL journey, knows hard work separates the very good from the great.
“He (Milford) gets ridden here, big time,” Marshall told NRL.com.
“I’ve really taken it upon myself this year to take him under my wing and help him train a bit harder and just learn about doing a few things extra.
“I think he is seeing the benefits of some of that but he doesn’t get any special treatment. If he did we’d probably bash him to be honest.
“He cops a lot of flak from people for how big he looks but he still moves pretty good.
“I could name 15 of the best players that ever played that had the same body. Cameron Smith has got a dog’s body, there’s heaps of people. You don’t have to have a mad body to be able to play.
“I’ve got no problems with the way he trains, I thought he had a pretty big pre-season.”
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...d/news-story/d4615a0c3fced858232499f4f7c6352a
