Drop milford

[NSW stables]

Both halves were bad, and although milford is probably better than croft, i think milford should be dropped because his lack of effort. He needs a rocket put up him and message to pull his head in.

I rather a player try and be short on skill rather than has the capacity to be so much better but not be bothered to put in the effort or put his body on the line.

I think the combo of croft and dearden will also result in the halves standing up and sharing the load as croft and dearden appear to take a back seat when milford is playing.

 

[Battler]

Fundamental change needs to occur. It isn‘t going to happen by going back to the same pairing who lost us the last what, 6 games in a row of last year I think it was?

Dearden ‘might’ turn out to be a quality half and because of that I’m happy for him to play on. If we don’t we’ll probably lose him too and then the only way we’ll know if he IS good, is him carving us or other teams up. Give him the team and put Asiata beside him.

Croft we know and have seen has nothing. Storm dropping him and then releasing him, should have been big enough red flags, but Mr Academia couldn’t read between those lines...

Milford had something has now lost it. How? No idea, confidence, depression, coached out of him? I have no idea. But he is absolutely done for us now. Punt him to Seagulls and be done with him in our jersey. He can go and sign with whoever will take him and good luck to them. They’ll need it.

Let this be the line in the sand the club still hasn‘t drawn with the playing group. If it upsets players, good. They can join him. The club can always sign someone else. They’re already the wooden spooners, at least some QCup players will have a crack, trying to get a fulltime gig.

**** me dead you know we're in the shit big time when Asiata is a real option at six.

 

[Mustafur]

As much as I agree, I want dearden in ISC longer, let him learn what winning feels like.

 

[Old Mate]

He's also been the best player in the team from 2015-2018.

Wouldn't have made the GF without him. He's gone to shit, but don't re-write history to suit your agenda.

Debatable, I’d say Hunt was more influential in 2015.

 

[Sproj]

Sad though isn’t it that the guy is now in his mid-late 20s and already been on the decline for 5 years now. What a waste of talent and a LOT of money.

 

[Old Mate]

Dump Milf and sign Taylor, get one back on the gold coast dogs.

 

[Rico]

Err, the infamous Eels semi-final in 2018 was the first inclination of just how much this team sucked and it hasn’t improved since then...

You can be forgiven for getting the team or year wrong as it’s been there for years. The dragons flogging us on that Sunday arvo elimination final at home in 18 proved we had a playing group problem and it’s been shit ever since.

 

[vertigo]

As much as I agree, I want dearden in ISC longer, let him learn what winning feels like.

Great point actually.

We need a journeyman who's willing to get beaten up for the next 20 odd games.

 

[rnabokov]

You can be forgiven for getting the team or year wrong as it’s been there for years. The dragons flogging us on that Sunday arvo elimination final at home in 18 proved we had a playing group problem and it’s been shit ever since.

For mine, largely because we never recruited a genuine leader, and after Lockyer and Hodges left, it showed, and keeps showing.

 

[McHunt]

We could have offered $300k and he still would have gone. The difference in contract values in $, is double. So is the job security. As a kid who’s never played Qld Cup, let alone NRL, you can’t pass that up.
We didn’t get this one wrong.

The sad thing is this is a reflection of the lack of pulling power we have as club more than anything else. This kid should've wanted to become the next Brisbane captain. But at his age all he knows of the Broncos is strife and failure. And he knows the mood on the ground better than we do.

 

[Sproj]

The sad thing is this is a reflection of the lack of pulling power we have as club more than anything else. This kid should've wanted to become the next Brisbane captain. But at his age all he knows of the Broncos is strife and failure. And he knows the mood on the ground better than we do.

All important points. What we need as a club is a win and off-field as well. We need to land a big name and we need to land a retention we want to keep but everyone else is chasing. We need these to show we are back and no longer the punching bag of everyone else. I don’t know if or when either of these will happen.

 

[holdzy]

Debatable, I’d say Hunt was more influential in 2015.

He was certainly influential in the final result of 2015.

We wouldn't have made the GF without either of them. Their combination was what worked. Hunt was the more experienced player ready to come into his own. I actually think Hunt dominated the first half of the year, Milf the second.

 

[Renegade]

fire milford into the sun.

 

[WASSHHH]

fire milford into the sun.

Unless he goes on an absolute tear, it’s hard to see any club offering him even half of what he’s on now. Regardless, I hope we don’t offer him one at all.

But if he wants another decent size contract, he best get his passport and masks ready and get some advice off Herbie about the weather before he gets on the plane.

 

[Great white hope]

For mine, largely because we never recruited a genuine leader, and after Lockyer and Hodges left, it showed, and keeps showing.

I Agree and think this us the current group's biggest issue. I know Milford was really disappointing last night but I recall he and Deardon combining well before Deardin's ankle injury. I truly believe that Milford's downturn is directly related to trying to get him to be a more structured game manager after Hunt left. Ever since coaches have asked him to play that way he no longer plays I distinctive footy, runs less, and doesn't dig deep enough into the defensive line. He needs a true organising half for him to thrive. Croft is not a good fool at all!!!
At the end of the day Milford was poor last night but our ball control was poor and that is the key stat in the modern game with the current rule.
Just need to focus on fundamentals. Defence and ball control

 

[BronxosLover]

The problem is he is the type of player who plays best on unstructured footy. As much as people like to think it that is not a halves job, yes they run, can make slick tricky passes and whatnot but they are not expected to play how Milford naturally does. If that were to happen 1. There would be no structure- no control, discipline & organisation. That’s not the way he thrives. I don’t know how people can’t work it out. With all the talent in the team, it is pivotal that they get a firm marshalled half-one to head the team in an affirmative direction. Yes Croft can help to an extent but he is also a natural free flowing type of player. He’s got aspects of a controlled, smart player and is also scintillating & dangerous with raw talent. It’s a heap of pressure to rely on him for though and having too many options affects his instinct to come up with the right call which is what makes him such a threat and a talented playmaker. They just need playmakers to settle things down, apply repeat pressure and let the natural ability of the players around (which are aplenty) to assert their attacking influence whilst guiding them in a disciplined direction. Give Tommy Dearden a crack at half, for a young player he had an impressive amount of maturity and level-headedness (sure there are some things he could work on as with all players, but he’s the type who’ll take it on board and run with it) Give Croft the #6 and Milf a go at fullback where he can be so elusive & surround him with back-up players. They got one of the fastest squads, I’m sure there will be a runner or two lurking up in support. Also some high-flying guys who can give Milf a hand under those big kicks. From what I’ve seen Milf is a great defensive fullback, having the skill of reading the play (which makes it seem like he could be suitable as playmaker), he’s 99% of the time in the right spot. I’ve been saying this for years and years . Work on their goal line D, communicate!! Other than that I see positive signs all round, a heap of young guns- older familiar heads giving them a run for their money and they don’t lack determination & effort!! That’s for sure!

 

[BroncsFan]

I think Kevvie will be bitterly disappointed with how Milf played last night.

He wants him playing eyes up footy, but he also wants the ball in his hands to get the team around the park... Milf was the primary kicker last week and playing a lot of first receiver as more like a halfback, whilst Croft was playing a subdued role out on the left.

The game was there, but Milford leant too heavily on eyes up footy and looking for the killer play, because it worked last week (early kick for Coates, early kicks to turn the eels' defence around, etc.). This week titans were giving us field position and our forwards were holding their own so he just needed to get us around the park, let the team play conservative footy to get into the game, get to the end of the set and build pressure.

I have no doubt Kevvie wants a Milf + Dearden halves partnership, but he can't bring Dearden in just yet. Milf is literally our only spark plug in attack unless Dearden can come of age in ISC. Croft just doesn't have the weapons to create enough in attack, so Kevvie desperately needs Milf to find a groove and be comfortable as leader of the attack.

He literally needs Milf to do his role for 4-5 weeks to let Dearden get some game time in the lower grades and allow Milford to get into the swing of the season under his new role, but if he shits the bed like he did against titans then he's going to feel the pressure to drop him.

I don't think Kevvie minds losing, but he needs the players to do their role and commit to the cause. Milf went waaaay off track last night and would've severely dented Kevvie's trust in him... so much so that he had to move Milf to the other side of the field and then let Croft take over the halfback duties.

The difficulty will be trying to rein Milford in, but still emphasizing that he needs to play eyes up footy and taking shots, whilst also preventing Milford from sinking into his shell like last year.

 

[rnabokov]

I think Kevvie will be bitterly disappointed with how Milf played last night.

He wants him playing eyes up footy, but he also wants the ball in his hands to get the team around the park... Milf was the primary kicker last week and playing a lot of first receiver as more like a halfback, whilst Croft was playing a subdued role out on the left.

The game was there, but Milford leant too heavily on eyes up footy and looking for the killer play, because it worked last week (early kick for Coates, early kicks to turn the eels' defence around, etc.). This week titans were giving us field position and our forwards were holding their own so he just needed to get us around the park, let the team play conservative footy to get into the game, get to the end of the set and build pressure.

I have no doubt Kevvie wants a Milf + Dearden halves partnership, but he can't bring Dearden in just yet. Milf is literally our only spark plug in attack unless Dearden can come of age in ISC. Croft just doesn't have the weapons to create enough in attack, so Kevvie desperately needs Milf to find a groove and be comfortable as leader of the attack.

He literally needs Milf to do his role for 4-5 weeks to let Dearden get some game time in the lower grades and allow Milford to get into the swing of the season under his new role, but if he shits the bed like he did against titans then he's going to feel the pressure to drop him.

I don't think Kevvie minds losing, but he needs the players to do their role and commit to the cause. Milf went waaaay off track last night and would've severely dented Kevvie's trust in him... so much so that he had to move Milf to the other side of the field and then let Croft take over the halfback duties.

The difficulty will be trying to rein Milford in, but still emphasizing that he needs to play eyes up footy and taking shots, whilst also preventing Milford from sinking into his shell like last year.

Great post.

For mine we need a dominant half for Milford to be at his best. Like it or not that is why we bought him, to win matches, not to game manage or lead the team around the park. His combination with Hunt was what it was all about, and since we haven't had a dominant half since Hunt, Milford has gone backwards. Until we do get a half taking some control out there, I can't see Milford returning to his best, sadly, and I think blaming Milford misses the point. Is he good value at the moment, no. Do we have a dominant half? No. Do we have a game manager at hooker? No. Do we have a decent full back? No.

Not much of a spine, is it.

For mine, that's what in large part explains our decline, and Milford's. Frankly, given our halves options this year, I don't see Milford doing what we want from him, and unless Dearden steps up (such a big ask in this side) this will be his last season here.