Milford's weight

[Big Pete]

Now I've never been one to judge a player on an unflattering pre-season photo, but Pushkin raised a good point and I wanted to get others thoughts.

Anthony Milford is one of the most damaging runners in the game and his ability to beat defenders with speed and foot-work is a delight to watch. However it appears he's carrying some extra kegs and it's affecting his ability to put the foot down and break clear of the covering defence.

Now I know it's only early days, but let's compare his weight with other halves in the combination.

According to the NRL media guide Anthony Milford stands at 176cm and 93kg.

Let's go through the rest of the halves...

Ben Hunt 178cm 88kg
Blake Austin 186cm 95kg
Austin Sezer 180cm 90kg
Moses Mbye 180cm 89kg
Josh Reynolds 185cm 90kg
James Maloney 176cm 83kg
Chad Townsend 181cm 90kg
Kane Elgey 180cm 87kg
Ash Taylor 181cm 90kg
Blake Green 179cm 97kg
Daly Cherry Evans 180cm 88kg
Cooper Cronk 178cm 89kg
Ryley Jacks 185cm 94kg
Trent Hodkinson 179cm 90kg
Brock Lamb 179cm 90kg
Michael Morgan 185cm 92kg
Johnathan Thurston 179cm 87kg
Clinton Gutherson 190cm 92kg
Corey Norman 185cm 91kg
Nathan Cleary 182cm 88kg
Te Maire Martin 181cm 87kg
Adam Reynolds 173cm 85kg
Cody Walker 179cm 90kg
Josh McCrone 180cm 89kg
Gareth Widdop 181cm 88kg
Luke Keary 179cm 85kg
Mitchell Pearce 181cm 88kg
Ata Hingano 183cm 92kg
Shaun Johnson 179cm 91kg
Luke Brooks 177cm 89kg
Mitchell Moses 182cm 84kg

When Anthony Milford made his debut in 2013 he was 176cm 85kg and when he left a year later his weight was 88kg.

Now we know he started his first year at the Broncos a little heavy. At that time, his weight was reportedly at 92kg and then the season wore on, he found his fitness and the rest they say is history. Last season when he hit the ground running and was among one of the best players in the competition during the early rounds he was at 90kg. This year at 93kg, he maybe over and if he wants to play to the best of his ability he'll have to shed that weight.

Considering he's already missed 13 tackles in two games (six more than the next Bronco, which is surprisingly Gillett) it's fair to say it hasn't helped his defensive game either.

While all the attention is on Ben Hunt and whether he'll live up to the $6 Million contract, it's important to remember the other side of the story here and the progress of Anthony Milford will be one of the key stories for Brisbane in 2017. If he can find his fitness, you never know what could happen at the end of the season. However as it stands, his weight has to be a concern for the Broncos.

 

[Super Freak]

Considering one of the best running halves in the game is only 1kg lighter than him, I don't see it as much of a problem.

It's a long season and as the season goes on his fitness will improve.

I think the biggest factor is that teams are switching on to him and running numbers at him and he is struggling to adapt.

 

[bb_gun]

I'm happy with what Bennett has in store for him. He was a fullback before he came to us but he's a five-eighth now so he needs to bulk up, IMO. Let the season play out before ridiculing his weight. If he can stay start tackling SRF's by himself before the end of the season then it's job well done. Otherwise there might be a problem.

 

[Big Pete]

We're two games into the season and Shaun Johnson hasn't been that impressive so far this season. Outside of a small window where he helped the Warriors expose the Knights left fringe in defence what has he really done so far?

When Johnson was at his best (2011) he was 88kg. Admittedly he was only a rookie then, but his next best year was 2014 where he helped guide the Kiwis to a Four Nations victory and he was 89kg then.

 

[Super Freak]

Morgan was reportedly 94kg's in 2015.

 

[Rhys van Beurden]

Whilst a little off-topic from his weight, I reckon Milford tackling technique in general sucks. Now I'm not a tackling expert by any stretch of the imagination, but he seems to try and rely predominantly on his arm strength to tackle, as opposed to putting his whole body in. Yet he is very bottom heavy, so his extra weight is kind of useless since he isn't using that part of his body in his tackling.

I think he could stand to drop a few kilos, but I figure someone somewhere reckons he is at an optimum level of body size.

 

[Big Pete]

Morgan was reportedly 94kg's in 2015.

He's nearly 10cm taller than Milford.

And to save you the trouble of flicking through past media guides trying to look for a flaw, I'll skip to my counter argument right now. Clearly they were able to make the weight work for them, Milford is struggling and that's been evident in the pre-season and in the first couple of rounds. Outside of the initial 10m he's evidently lost some pace.

 

[Pushkin]

The first 8 round so important for Broncos. Everybody know what gone happened during origin. We can say what ever but it's up to player. They need to look into the mirror. Motivation should come from inside not from other people.

 

[Porthoz]

If it was Hook, this forum would be lava hot. It's WB, so it's all good... apparently.

 

[winslow_wong]

He made his name with his speed and elusiveness. Take those away from him and what is he then? A few times on Friday night I thought he looked clumsy when trying to step and change direction. That clumsiness made him seem really pudgy. I know he's defending in the front line but we need to consider a players strengths as well.

 

[Big Pete]

Speaking of Hook, Hunt was actually 3kg lighter when he had his break-out 2014 season.

That's it, cancel the season, is it too late to sign these boys up for Biggest Loser? :pokeytongue:

 

[Cult]

If it was Hook, this forum would be lava hot. It's WB, so it's all good... apparently.

It's weird how we let the guy who has won us premierships get away with things, isn't it?

 

[bazza]

I think Milford was slightly overweight in 2015, yet still close to an ideal playing weight so it didn't seem too noticeable, and then in 2016 he was again slightly heavier and it was getting a bit more evident, and now he is extremely heavy and its actually concerning.

It's progressively been more noticeable the decline in his speed over a long distance, as well as his off the mark acceleration. His footwork is also no where near as effective as it once was because of the added weight, and he rarely beats players the way he used to.

I was actually surprised with the try he scored against the Sharks, because it's seems like its been a while since his footwork has actually fooled a defender. Overall I feel the added weight is doing more harm than good and it is seriously hampering his movement, which is/was his greatest asset.

 

[bazza]

Speaking of Hook, Hunt was actually 3kg lighter when he had his break-out 2014 season.

That's it, cancel the season, is it too late to sign these boys up for Biggest Loser? :pokeytongue:

I'm glad you mentioned that because I secretly felt that Hunt in 2016 was also heavier than he was in 2015. Maybe that played a part in his loss of confidence in his running game. Sometimes when your major strength is no longer working as well for you, it can knock you down. I saw bit of that with both Hunt and Milford at times last season.

 

[Broncs_Fan]

I think the weight Milford is putting on is just his natural build as he gets older and fills out. He is Samoan. They are genetically large people.

 

[Unbreakable]

That feel when you say Pushkin raised the topic @Big Pete, I've been saying he's playing overweight since 2016 pre-season. It 100% is messing with his confidence and ability, the same thing happened with Barba, except Barba was also coming off a major ankle injury, so he had the double whammy.

 

[Big Pete]

That feel when you say Pushkin raised the topic @Big Pete, I've been saying he's playing overweight since 2016 pre-season.

As I wrote, I don't buy into unflattering photos.

I'm a nerd, hit me with quantitative comparisons and support it with on-field examples and I'm all in.

 

[Unbreakable]

As I wrote, I don't buy into unflattering photos.

I'm a nerd, hit me with quantitative comparisons and support it with on-field examples and I'm all in.

I would've, but I didn't know there was a player weight database. Not to mention I don't really buy in to the weights listed on the club websites, they're often wrong, at one point a season or two ago it said Thaiday was 100kg, we all know that's a lie.

I let my eyes be the judge, and I'm pretty rarely wrong if I do say so my self, I said it about Barba, I'm saying it about Milford. The only other spine player we've had over the years that I questioned fitness wise was Hunt in the 2014(?) pre-season, a few months later it came out that he quit the booze and changed his diet to help with his fitness from memory.