PRE-GAME Finals Week 1 - Roosters vs Broncos

[winslow_wong]

Anthony Milford in best shape of his career ahead of NRL finals clash with Roosters

ANTHONY Milford is set to terrorise the Roosters with the Broncos revealing a weight-loss program has their star pivot entering the NRL finals in the best shape of his career.

Broncos playmaking legend Darren Lockyer says Milford has never looked more lethal, with the Roosters defence to confront a leaner and meaner Brisbane five-eighth at Allianz Stadium.

Milford has dropped 3kg from his frame, with his shoulder injury in June presenting a silver lining as Broncos strength-and-conditioning coaches spent time working on his fitness.

Starting the pre-season at 95kg, Milford takes on the Roosters at 92kg and the benefits of his weight loss were evident in last week’s victory over North Queensland in Townsville.

Milford was noticeably quicker over the first five metres as he terrorised the Cowboys, with Broncos high-performance chief Jeremy Hickmans saying the pivot is primed to fire in the playoffs.

“Anthony is probably in the best shape I’ve seen him,” Hickmans said.

“He started the year at around 95kg and we’ve got him down to 92kg, which is probably his ideal playing weight.

“The upside of his shoulder injury was that it gave us time for him to work on his fitness. He has always been quick over the first 10 metres but he is now even sharper.

“His weight has come down two or three kilos and to Anthony’s credit, he has bought into how hard we have worked him.”

Lockyer watched Milford from close range as Channel Nine’s sideline eye last week in Townsville and believes he has the physical condition to light up the finals — starting against the Roosters.

“I like what I’m seeing from Anthony,” Lockyer said.

“Milford looks to have lost a kilo or two and that has helped the most lethal part of his game, which is his speed off the mark and ability to trouble defenders with his footwork.”

Earlier in the season, Broncos coach Wayne Bennett was forced to defend claims Milford was a lazy trainer.

Hickmans said the Queensland Origin ace has always trained strongly, revealing Milford’s eating habits were a more pressing matter.

“He had to work on his off-field stuff with diet,” he said. “Anthony trains well but we needed to look at his diet, it’s the time when Anthony isn’t at training — that is where he can put on some weight.

“He had a few little sloppy habits but he has been outstanding in giving us a chance to work on his conditioning.”

www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/broncos/anthony-milford-in-best-shape-of-his-career-ahead-of-nrl-finals-clash-with-roosters/news-story/f9539e9d7b6b2e406f7b2432b9b0ca1e

Ah ha! So he was a bit chubby. Case closed.

 

[Kyall]

Hahjahahahhahahahahhahahwaaahaaa really best shape come on no one believes that.

 

[Accept]

Hahjahahahhahahahahhahahwaaahaaa really best shape come on no one believes that.

Hickmans believes it and he is more qualified than you or I. It's no coincidence that his form has been outstanding the past month or so.

 

[Danoz Direct]

Hahjahahahhahahahahhahahwaaahaaa really best shape come on no one believes that.

Looks to be in great shape to me. Looks as quick and elusive as he ever has.

 

[winslow_wong]

Hahjahahahhahahahahhahahwaaahaaa really best shape come on no one believes that.

I believe it but most important is milford believes it too. You can see him really accelerating when there's a half gap. He's a lot faster than moga

 

[Aldo]

Hahjahahahhahahahahhahahwaaahaaa really best shape come on no one believes that.

What do you think his ideal playing weight is?

 

[Super Freak]

I swear, no one will be happy until Milford looks like he is dying from starvation.

 

[broncsgoat]

If his ideal playing weight is 92kgs, why has he been playing at 95?

Conditioning coach pretty much admitting they didnt have him in shape.

 

[Super Freak]

Allianz holds no fears for Broncos

With history on their side, the Brisbane Broncos travel to Allianz Stadium confident they can beat the Sydney Roosters on their own patch.

After finishing in third position at the end of the home and away season, the Broncos must make the trek to Sydney to take on the Roosters in Friday night's Qualifying Final – a journey they are quite comfortable making.

Brisbane's record at Allianz Stadium in finals football is impressive, winning 14 of 22 finals matches at the venue formally known as the Sydney Football Stadium.

To top this, the Broncos have won four of their five finals clashes against the Roosters, including a 24-16 victory in their most recent meeting at Allianz Stadium in 2008.

All these facts have left Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett a confident man heading into the contest, with the master coach even comparing the venue to Suncorp Stadium.

"There are a few grounds around the country that you'd prefer not to be at but Allianz is not one of those," Bennett said.

"We've won premierships there and had a lot of success there. We've won Origin games when I was coach of Queensland with a lot of Broncos players playing.

"It's a great venue and it's very typical Suncorp. It's not as big as Suncorp of course but it's got a great footy environment and surroundings. It makes you feel like you want to play football."

Friday will be the third time the Broncos have met the Roosters this year, with each team on one victory apiece.

That has been the tale of the tape in recent contests between the two sides; with the last six match-ups being split at three wins each.

Despite the evenness of the rivalry and Brisbane's imposing finals record at Allianz Stadium, the Broncos have not beaten Sydney at Allianz Stadium since 2012.

Since then the Roosters have won four in a row at the venue, with this record coinciding with Sydney's dominant run of three-straight minor premierships between 2013-2015.

After a lean 2016 the Roosters are back near the top, and Bennett was full of praise for Trent Robinson's men when asked of their recent accomplishments.

"They've done a good job. They've been a good team for the last five years," he said.

"They've won three minor premierships and only had a bad year last year because of what happened in their off-season.

"They've been up there all year and are a quality football team. It will be good to play against them.

"We play good footy against them and they play good footy against us. There's a good rivalry there between two teams that can play good football."

http://www.nrl.com/allianz-holds-no-fears-for-broncos/tabid/10874/newsid/111886/default.aspx

 

[Alec]

It's good that they addressed the weight issue. Anyone should have been able to see his running game was balls even just a couple of months ago. Now he looks threatening again.

 

[Kyall]

TBH I think Milford should be down around 87kg 88kg mark. But it could be his natural build as well. Him having that extra weight can help him break tackles especially if it's in his legs.

 

[winslow_wong]

TBH I think Milford should be down around 87kg 88kg mark. But it could be his natural build as well. Him having that extra weight can help him break tackles especially if it's in his legs.

I've never met an islander under 90 kgs.

 

[jarro65]

Honestly, IMO he doesn't need to lose any more weight...he looks fine now.

Very big and strong through the legs and hips which is what we need for tackle busting.

 

[broncsgoat]

I've never met an islander under 90 kgs.

I imagine their infants/young children are, but from playing junior carnivals back in the day I can confirm any Islander over the age of 12 is 90+

 

[broncos4life]

Pointless - Play the game, not the player. Or add the player to your ignore list.

 

[Dash]

I imagine their infants/young children are, but from playing junior carnivals back in the day I can confirm any Islander over the age of 12 is 90+

I believe it's down to 8 these days.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Mind games at it's best :wink:

 

[Rally Towel]

Lo

....lol....incepting lol....means graduating with a degree from a university ha ha...not sure he has that power !!!!!

Huge doesn't watch anything unless it's black and white, when movies were worth watching...

On topic, very keen for tonight. Should be a cracker, and I think it's going to be close. All on the shoulders of our forwards. Win the middle and let our little guys run riot.