NEWS As expected: round 6 and the axe falls

As previously seen in BHQ's crystal ball, Round 6 marks Anthony Milford’s banishment to the QLD Cup. His first outright demotion in nine years. After pissing around with the other two halves Kevvie has finally shown his hand and has done what always had to be done. Milford now finds himself training with the Reserve Grade squad, along with promising centre Tesi Niu. Brodie Croft looks set to take his position outside Tommy Dearden, at least as a placeholder, until [watch this space] arrives. Jesse Arthars will replace Fantesi.

Brisbane management is hoping to have its 2022 roster sorted by June 30. That gives Milford at most 10 weeks to save his contract.

Drink up

Matt Lodge took the microphone to break the news:

“(Kevvie) has drawn a line in the sand. Although I feel sorry for the guys who miss out, you can’t keep doing the same thing week in, week out and expect change. Kevvie has looked at the game and found some things he’s not happy with and he’s holding people accountable. We all know Milf is a talented first grade footballer but he and a couple of others aren’t doing what Kevvie wants and I applaud him for putting his foot down.”

McHunt

 

[Morepudding]

But he used to be following around the ruck and running onto the offloads. That came to a halt years ago and so did the offloads. So is that due to coaching, his laziness or just our players aren’t as good anymore?

That came to a halt because he is trying to fill everyones role. Back then Boyd was somewhat of a threat, had other threats around him and as much as people dont rate macca, he offered more than Turpin does currently. Also had Ben Hunt he is average, but still leagues ahead of croft and dearden, and Nikorima off the bench.

Our current team completely fucking sucks. I want us to get Adam Reynolds, but at the same time Adam Reynolds will also be fairly shit if we dont get a couple other threats in the team.

 

[broncsgoat]

If players are getting dropped after their 'best games'...

Watching the game back may have changed his mind

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Personally, unless Milford suddenly wakes up in a week or two (spoiler: he won't) and delivers a MOTM performance in reserve grade (or one of our surviving halves blows a hammy), I doubt we will see him in a Broncos jersey again.

What a shame. Could have been one of the all time greats, but sadly he just has all the talent attached to a personality that doesn't match. He hates hard work at training, the club have fucked him around trying to turn him into something he's not; an organizing kicking machine rather than the running broken play instinct player he really is, he seems to have lost his love of the game, he doesn't look after his body because he would rather scoff the Big Macs, he is as quiet as a mouse on field so can't or won't tell other players to work with what he's offering and as far as the Broncos are concerned at least, he's checked out.

We can only hope his agent is already on the phone to other clubs, but even if he isn't, a few weeks stewing in Qcup knowing he isn't getting another deal might be enough to see Milford ask for a release, which I think is the best outcome for everyone.

 

[TimWhatley]

But he used to be following around the ruck and running onto the offloads. That came to a halt years ago and so did the offloads. So is that due to coaching, his laziness or just our players aren’t as good anymore?

We had way more offloads in 2017 than we did in 2015 which actually coincided with a drop in Milf's form, so I'm not sure what your point is.

 

[Skyblues87]

Watching the game back may have changed his mind

 

[Skyblues87]

KW said it was Milfs best game so far. What he didn't say was that it still wasn't good enough.

 

[Tristan1990]

KW said it was Milfs best game so far. What he didn't say was that it still wasn't good enough.

Kevvy comes across quite sarcastic maybe we took him too seriously haha

 

[Thelmus]

Yeah I think it was time for both niu and milf. They obviously aren't working in their respected spots.
Defence on that right side is awful and whilst it not only him, as a centre niu is a big part of it.
Further more, he has a habit of running out to the sidelines too often. If you have a guy like coates outside you, you have to use him. It can't all come from the halves.
As for Milford, if the most experience player in the spine is making the most mistakes, placing others under pressure, and not throwing his body on the line, why is he there?
I think if they both go back to q cup and tear it up, demonstrating improvement where it is asked, they can play again this year (especially in the case of Niu) but it all depends on where they are mentally.
With Milford, the best thing for his happiness as a footballer might be making a fresh start somewhere else with an experienced organising half, in a settled team. Not sure if any team fits the build, that would be willing to spend even half what he is getting but you never know (manly?)

 

[Morepudding]

Yeah I think it was time for both niu and milf. They obviously aren't working in their respected spots.
Defence on that right side is awful and whilst it not only him, as a centre niu is a big part of it.
Further more, he has a habit of running out to the sidelines too often. If you have a guy like coates outside you, you have to use him. It can't all come from the halves.
As for Milford, if the most experience player in the spine is making the most mistakes, placing others under pressure, and not throwing his body on the line, why is he there?
I think if they both go back to q cup and tear it up, demonstrating improvement where it is asked, they can play again this year (especially in the case of Niu) but it all depends on where they are mentally.
With Milford, the best thing for his happiness as a footballer might be making a fresh start somewhere else with an experienced organising half, in a settled team. Not sure if any team fits the build, that would be willing to spend even half what he is getting but you never know (manly?)

Milford defends on the left tho...

 

[Fernando]

He got more chances than most players could dream of. 3 coaches, numerous halves partners, tried at halfback 5/8 and fullback, tried as the organiser, told to focus on running, played on the left, played on the right...pretty well everything has been tried. Doesn't help he's at one of the worst run clubs in NRL history, but he hasn't looked like a million dollar player since mid 2016 and in recent times he hasn't looked like a 500k player.

And going forward if you are going to give 1 million to someone it has to be a player that is captaincy material. Way too much risk in giving that money to someone who isn't, it says something about them I think.

 

[winslow_wong]

We had way more offloads in 2017 than we did in 2015 which actually coincided with a drop in Milf's form, so I'm not sure what your point is.

Point is a big part of Milford’s running game was support play and taking the offloads at speed. With out this, his running game suffered a lot.

 

[Nashy]

How long until another half is injured and Kev's forced to play him anyway? Wednesday?

 

[Fernando]

How long until another half is injured and Kev's forced to play him anyway? Wednesday?

Yeah he'll be back at some stage. We will probably re-sign him on 75% of his current deal or something

 

[Sproj]

Yeah he'll be back at some stage. We will probably re-sign him on 75% of his current deal or something

Which would be 60% too much.

 

[vertigo]

People still holding out hope for something that doesn't exist.

He's finished here. Move on. How many more years do you want to keep waiting?

 

[Thelmus]

Milford defends on the left tho...

I was talking about niu with regard to the right side. Coates has the wing therefore Niu has to be a better defender than he has shown. I think he is still a good prospect, but he is a little hesitant at times in defence. I'd be tempted to put farnsworth on that side and then you have a fairly lethal right side with dearden to feed it, but he is still somewhat inexperienced and benefits playing alongside mead.
As for Milford it is more about reducing returns. You always take a hit in defence from that type of player (look at Benji Marshall's defence). You just hope they put in when it gets tough and make up for it with their creativity and work ethic.
He has improved with regard to last year on his effort but not his application, discipline or leadership (he is now 27 and should be a senior player, with the maturity to lead, not be expected to be led).
That a 19 year old halfback and a couple of 20 year olds seem to show more out on the field makes me wonder how he has not progressed and why.
As a 5/8 he will always be in a position to influence those around him whether with the ball in hand or just because he has more freedom than the regimented roles of second rowers, centres or props.
In 6 years of playing that role it still hasn't been shown.
Walters talked about him and the captaincy because it should be a natural fit for a mature play maker that is the teams premier player. It goes to a more troubling question about the mental toughness and the lack of resistance that is inherent in him and the players that developed with him.
I hope Walters can root out the cause and a find a solution because we can't keep blaming youth and whilst it is a factor in some inexperience, should not be an excuse to drop heads. A player who doesn't fight harder when down shouldn't be there.
Dropping Milford may be the first step in setting an expectation to never take success or failure for granted, be it on the field or off it.

 

[theshed]

It may be shuffling the chairs on the titanic but at least we may sink with a more palatable chair arrangement.

 

[Jason Simmons]

I was talking about niu with regard to the right side. Coates has the wing therefore Niu has to be a better defender than he has shown. I think he is still a good prospect, but he is a little hesitant at times in defence. I'd be tempted to put farnsworth on that side and then you have a fairly lethal right side with dearden to feed it, but he is still somewhat inexperienced and benefits playing alongside mead.
As for Milford it is more about reducing returns. You always take a hit in defence from that type of player (look at Benji Marshall's defence). You just hope they put in when it gets tough and make up for it with their creativity and work ethic.
He has improved with regard to last year on his effort but not his application, discipline or leadership (he is now 27 and should be a senior player, with the maturity to lead, not be expected to be led).
That a 19 year old halfback and a couple of 20 year olds seem to show more out on the field makes me wonder how he has not progressed and why.
As a 5/8 he will always be in a position to influence those around him whether with the ball in hand or just because he has more freedom than the regimented roles of second rowers, centres or props.
In 6 years of playing that role it still hasn't been shown.
Walters talked about him and the captaincy because it should be a natural fit for a mature play maker that is the teams premier player. It goes to a more troubling question about the mental toughness and the lack of resistance that is inherent in him and the players that developed with him.
I hope Walters can root out the cause and a find a solution because we can't keep blaming youth and whilst it is a factor in some inexperience, should not be an excuse to drop heads. A player who doesn't fight harder when down shouldn't be there.
Dropping Milford may be the first step in setting an expectation to never take success or failure for granted, be it on the field or off it.

Youth isn’t an excuse. Penrith are a younger team than us, with less experience...