[OFFICIAL] Anthony Milford to Broncos

[Donald]

Not another FIH article is it...? Better not be!

 

[azza]

big news, will he deliver for us in the number 6 assuming we get Barba (hopefully) ?

 

[Donald]

All I know is the guy has speed to burn (ran slater down today), great footwork and he is a queenslander. Haven't seen him ball play that much but from what I've seen of Hunt in the 7 the last two weeks we will have a cracking spine if we have Barba, hunt, Milford and Macca.

I don't know about you guys but I'm looking forward to watching the Broncos and knowing that we are capable of scoring from anywhere on the field. We just dont have that at the moment.

if we do get Barba and Milford it would have to be the best recruitment I've seen in a long long time. You only have to look at the chooks this season to see what a couple of smart buys can do for you.

 

[Splinter]

Milford to fullback definitely is a move by Canberra that suits their needs but I think in this case, it is a happy coincidence where is works out the best for both parties.



I would say there is no way that he can offer his running game (to the same extent) at five-eight. I'm just as happy to reminisce about the good ol' days as anyone but in this case I think it is really good to remember that the 'running five-eight' is almost gone in the NRL. With just about every team playing with left and right halves, whether a guy has a 6 or 7 on he is playing far more like a halfback - which means that there is far less opportunity to run and the emphasis becomes a lot more on passing and kicking.

Just look at some of the guys who used to be great running five-eights, like Carney and Marshall but are now playing a lot like halfbacks. Neither get anywhere near the same opportunity to run the ball any more and in the case of Marshall it has really destroyed him (obv. there are additional reasons why he is shit now). If you looked around the NRL you'd find very few halfbacks or five-eights whose best attribute and responsibility was their running game. The big role for them is as playmakers and running the ball becomes far more of a Plan B to mix up the plays and keep the defences honest.

If you move a guy into the halves now you are basically asking him to play almost exclusively at first receiver and the chances to run the ball are far more infrequent. In most team's spines you now have two halves and a fullback, with the main requirements of a half being playmaking and kicking followed by a good running game, whereas at fullback the main requirement is a good running game and then a decent passing game to allow them to link up to throw the last pass (like Brett Stewart does for Manly).

Whereever you see Milford ending up, I think it is undeniable that right now he is a ball-runner first and a playmaker second. I think that lines up far more with a fullback than a halfback.

I am afraid I am going to agree with the beer king on this one. You state that every team plays two halves, I don't know where you get this from because there would be only six reasonable halves playing NRL so I am not sure where you are seeing the other 26????.
also in attack most plays that are not one out forwards have two so called halves passing to each other as these plays start from one side or the other on the field, few start from the exact centre so a running 5/8 can work. DCE and Foran regularly passed to each other this last match and I would also call Foran more a running 5/8 than ball playing

 

[Donald]

Just read one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Some poor guy on the Raiders forum said
"they've taken Lazarus and now Milford from us and all we got was Craig Frawley"!

pissed myself laughing but I can see why he is annoyed haha

 

[KingWebcke]

I am afraid I am going to agree with the beer king on this one. You state that every team plays two halves, I don't know where you get this from because there would be only six reasonable halves playing NRL so I am not sure where you are seeing the other 26????.

I'm sorry Splinter, I don't actually understand this comment at all. What I mean (and I hope this was the part of the post you were addressing) is that almost every team in the NRL plays with split halves nowadays. That means that after almost every tackle, you see one half setting up on the left of the ruck and one half on the right of the ruck. There are still occasions where you get both halves on one side but that is really rare! Generally both halves get the ball at first receiver and a fullback or forward plays at second receiver in any passing play (eg. at Manly Brett Stewart is often at second receiver).

That means if you want Milford to play in the halves he is going to be getting the ball at first receiver a lot, with maybe only a handful of touches elsehwere through the whole game. At first receiver there is far less chances for a player to run the ball, especially for a speedy guy like Milford who you want to see running out wider with lots of space to tear up defences.

also in attack most plays that are not one out forwards have two so called halves passing to each other as these plays start from one side or the other on the field, few start from the exact centre so a running 5/8 can work. DCE and Foran regularly passed to each other this last match and I would also call Foran more a running 5/8 than ball playing

I don't think that is true. Most attacking plays definitely have one half on each side of the tackle. The only exceptions are the rare times when the tackle is made really close to the sideline or when one half sneaks around behind the tackle. For example, at Manly, DCE and Foran might pass to each other a few times but I bet in a single game it would only be an average of ~4-5 times. Most of the rest of the time they are on opposite sides of the ruck or don't play together. The same is true at other teams and at Brisbane.

The only team I've seen this year that often has two halves on the same side passing to each other are Sydney. Also Melbourne a bit when Whiddop was still playing.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

Just read one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Some poor guy on the Raiders forum said
"they've taken Lazarus and now Milford from us and all we got was Craig Frawley"!

****ed myself laughing but I can see why he is annoyed haha

How quickly they forget the great Steve Irwin. Speaking of which, who remembers this gem:

On 18 May 2007, Steve Irwin was with his teammate, Todd Carney when Carney decided to drive in Irwin's ute, despite Carney having been disqualified from driving at the time. Police began to pursue the vehicle in a high-speed chase through the back streets of the Canberra suburb of Bruce. After turning into a dead-end street, Carney stopped the car and fled the scene on foot, leaving Irwin in the passenger seat. Irwin told police Carney was the driver.[2][3][4] Controversially, the Raiders club sacked Irwin over the incident (who was not charged with any offenses), but retained Carney. [5]
On 24 June 2007, Irwin lashed out at the Canberra Raiders club, during a stinging interview in the Sunday Mail newspaper. He blamed the Raiders for ruining his career and his reputation. [6]

Steve Irwin (rugby league) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Nashy]

There's some good fishing to be had in that thread.

 

[pennywisealfie]

Don't forget Tom Learoyd-Lahrs.

 

[Big Pete]

Or Darren Mapp.

They OWE us.

 

[Mister Wright]

All I know is the guy has speed to burn (ran slater down today), great footwork and he is a queenslander. Haven't seen him ball play that much but from what I've seen of Hunt in the 7 the last two weeks we will have a cracking spine if we have Barba, hunt, Milford and Macca.

I don't know about you guys but I'm looking forward to watching the Broncos and knowing that we are capable of scoring from anywhere on the field. We just dont have that at the moment.

if we do get Barba and Milford it would have to be the best recruitment I've seen in a long long time. You only have to look at the chooks this season to see what a couple of smart buys can do for you.

It's really the Steve Bradbury of recruitment though.

 

[Mister Wright]

If we do end up signing Milford I won't be jumping for joy. Although he looks a great talent it's not really the way you want players to become available to you.

 

[ningnangnong]

I love that Canberra has a suburb called 'Bruce'.

 

[Splinter]

I'm sorry Splinter, I don't actually understand this comment at all. What I mean (and I hope this was the part of the post you were addressing) is that almost every team in the NRL plays with split halves nowadays. That means that after almost every tackle, you see one half setting up on the left of the ruck and one half on the right of the ruck. There are still occasions where you get both halves on one side but that is really rare! Generally both halves get the ball at first receiver and a fullback or forward plays at second receiver in any passing play (eg. at Manly Brett Stewart is often at second receiver).

That means if you want Milford to play in the halves he is going to be getting the ball at first receiver a lot, with maybe only a handful of touches elsehwere through the whole game. At first receiver there is far less chances for a player to run the ball, especially for a speedy guy like Milford who you want to see running out wider with lots of space to tear up defences.



I don't think that is true. Most attacking plays definitely have one half on each side of the tackle. The only exceptions are the rare times when the tackle is made really close to the sideline or when one half sneaks around behind the tackle. For example, at Manly, DCE and Foran might pass to each other a few times but I bet in a single game it would only be an average of ~4-5 times. Most of the rest of the time they are on opposite sides of the ruck or don't play together. The same is true at other teams and at Brisbane.

The only team I've seen this year that often has two halves on the same side passing to each other are Sydney. Also Melbourne a bit when Whiddop was still playing.

If you take out the hooker to forward and half to forward then the percentage is considerably higher of half to half. The teams always set up split halves on these occasions. IMO Milford is no more a running 5/8 than Foran was at the same stage of his career or should I say the same running 5/8.
There is no reason for the Broncos not to set up with Milford outside the half on either side of he field if we are closer to the sideline. No need to follow what other teams are doing. Honestly quite a few teams are setting up with set halves who are not up to scratch and gen expecting their fullback to work as a second receiver whether he s a ball player or not. In the case of the Broncos if Hoffman was at fullback what is he reason for him to plat second receiver. He can't and Hodges is doing it now so why not utilize Mlford as a running 5/8 off his half. As you said he has some passing skills and at 19 much improvement would be expected

 

[Kimlo]

If we do end up signing Milford I won't be jumping for joy. Although he looks a great talent it's not really the way you want players to become available to you.

Sure it's not the best circumstances to be getting a player under but that doesn't mean I'm not going to be happy about the signing. He's a good kid with a huge future and his dad is in good hands with medical professionals taking care of him and his condition being better than the previous year. No need to go searching for negatives.

 

[Broncoman]

I'll fist punch the air with joy if we sign Miflord

 

[KingWebcke]

If you take out the hooker to forward and half to forward then the percentage is considerably higher of half to half. The teams always set up split halves on these occasions. IMO Milford is no more a running 5/8 than Foran was at the same stage of his career or should I say the same running 5/8.

Sure, the percentage increases but just from a really low number to a somewhat low number. You can count on one hand the number of times where two halves pass to each other in a backline move in many games. The rest of the time a half is at first receiver, which is what will happen to Milford. It seems crazy to me that people are so keen to force a player into that role in the hope that he might develop a prolific passing game, when there is the chance to play him at fullback where he gets infinitely more opportunity to showcase his incredible running game while still having a passing role (although with less pressure).

The comparison to Foran isn't great either. From watching both when they started their careers I think Foran was definitely more of a ball-player that Milford was at the same stage. Foran was a tough nugget and there was plenty of speculation that his toughness and running could see him play in the centres or at lock but he always had a really good passing game, more than Milford in my opinion.

 

[Donald]

I'll fist punch the air with joy if we sign Miflord

Then can we all go and fist punch those morons on the raiders forum..? Preferably in the head!!!

The idiots are now saying that he should be allowed to sign with any club besides Broncos. Where and how did they come up with that ridiculous idea...