Young Broncos players like Anthony Milford must prove their worth, says Gene Miles
- Chris Garry
- The Courier-Mail
- November 04, 2014 11:00PM
BRISBANE legend and former captain Gene Miles says it is time a young Bronco stands up and demands to be considered captaincy material.
The Broncos officially begin pre-season training this morning with all players, except the Four Nations contingent, slogging away at Purtell Park.
Today is also the first time star recruit Anthony Milford will wear Broncos colours after his Canberra Raiders contract kept him donning the maroon and gold until this week.
Milford’s 18-month contract saga is finally behind him and he has also been told he doesn’t need surgery on a nagging ankle injury that ruled him out of the Samoan team.
“My body was wrecked by the end of the season, it was a sigh of relief the year was over,” Milford said.
“I was keen to play the Four Nations but it was important to take time off to get the body right.
“My ankle is a bit sore but ice and rehab will fix it. I won’t need an operation which is good.
“Wayne (Bennett) told me to relax and to be home with my family. He said when pre-season comes, be ready to knuckle down.”
The Broncos also launch their new jersey this morning but Wayne Bennett said he would wait until a significant portion of the pre-season was completed before announcing the club’s new captain.
Miles backed Bennett’s decision to axe the co-captaincy program and said while one of Corey Parker, Justin Hodges or Sam Thaiday would be an excellent captain in the short term, a young Bronco needed to stand up as a long-term captain.
“I’m not sure who it will be but both captains are in the twilights of their careers so if he is looking for a long termer he might get one from left field,” Miles said.
“I don’t think there’s a standout but with Sam, Justin and Corey they have it covered.
“It is up to one of these young guys to prove to the coach he can captain the club through the next five years.
“The first year he might go with one of those guys and then look towards the future and transition someone to that position, which is a pretty special one.”
The obvious options for a young leader to be up-skilled for captaincy are Ben Hunt and Josh McGuire.
Outside of Darius Boyd, whose contract has not been signed off on, the Broncos still have one more top-25 position to fill.
Matthew Johns recently said on radio the Broncos were his dark horses for the premiership and this season is the first since Darren Lockyer retired that Brisbane fans have expectations of a top-four finish.
“It’s one of the hardest clubs to play at because everyone is watching you. They expect a lot from you and that’s the beauty of it,” Milford said.
