It's amazing how Milford's career has panned out. Was thrown onto the bench since the Raiders were dead in the water after their two best backs were shown the door. It was a shot in the dark that actually panned out for them and gave the Raiders fans something to look forward to, only for him to request a release to return home. Canberra play hard ball, make him play out the season where he's hot and cold and the gloss somewhat came off.
Comes to Brisbane and at first it seems like a bust for the Broncos. He's not a strong playmaker, he doesn't have much of a kicking game or passing game to speak of and his highlights are few and far between. It doesn't matter though since Ben Hunt is in rare form and the team is playing well under Bennett. After a slow start, Milford begins to play well on the back of others, he forms a strong combination with Jack Reed and the Broncos are strong on both sides of the field. Against all odds, Milford is right up there as one of the form players of the competition and his potential is obvious.
Picks up right where he left off in 2016, which is timely because Ben Hunt is no longer capable of producing superhuman efforts. He's still a 'good' player but in the clutch he's coming up with third tackle chip kicks, missing big tackles and all the signs of a player who is no longer loving footy. All appears well until the Origin series comes around and suddenly things begin to unravel. If it wasn't for Munster ratting out the other 8 players, Milford would have been the 14 and would have been groomed to take over from JT. Instead, he's defending alongside an 18 year old in an injury riddled and Origin plagued team against teams they'd ordinarily beat. Results go against them, confidence goes out the window and it takes them way too long to find their groove again. By the time they reach the semis, the backline is short on troops and they get eliminated in a sudden death clash on the road.
2017 rolls around and Milford has a mixed start to the season. For whatever reason, Brisbane got caned with a terribly tough start to the year which included the defending premiers away, Cowboys at home, Storm away, the premiership favourites Canberra and their 'easy' game was against the Bulldogs away when they were still a finals fixture. Their sixth game wasn't much easier against a resurgent Roosters side, but the Broncos produced one of their best performances to thrash them. Unfortunately it came at the price of Ben Hunt and just as it appeared the Broncos were going to build momentum they were brought back to earth.
They actually go on a winning streak and Milford is at the forefront of it. However, you couldn't call them dominant wins by any means and a lot of them were incredibly ugly where Brisbane just did enough to win. Origin rolls around and as fate would have it, JT had injured his shoulder. Down on troops, Kevie elects Milford as his replacement. Milford actually plays OK in a high-quality first half of football where penalties simply didn't exist. He's playing on the back of Smith and Cronk but he was stretching the Blues defence and appeared the most likely of any Maroon. It was all going to come down to a big second half, which he was denied of when he had his head taken off by a Blues defender early on.
Series over.
Milford returns to the Broncos during the rep season and once again helps them to a victory against Souths, only to get pushed off the ball by Damien Cook and he dislocates his shoulder. It's basically season over at that point, but the Broncos elect to delay surgery until later. The Broncos are the walking wounded and despite finishing Top 4, whatever hope they had of challenging Melbourne was thrown out the door when Parra put 50 on them at Suncorp.
2018 rolls around and the idea of a Kevie/Langer style combination between Milford/Hunt is a distant memory. Milford is now the primary playmaker which is made especially difficult by the status of Darius Boyd and Andrew McCullough who both carry injuries into the season. Just like their run in 2017, Brisbane master the art of winning ugly and despite some horrible set-backs manage to make it into the 8. While he's nowhere near the best kickers in the game, Milford does show some growth in his kicking game and appears to be getting closer to becoming a complete player.
Once again the season ends on a horrific note, but there's some actually some positive signs for the future and the Broncos look capable of a rebuild.
I also skipped over his Origin appearance because what was there to say? He got given junk time on the wrong side of the field. Game 2 Kevie learns his lesson and brings Ponga on early, for better or worse.
2019 was a big step back but you could say that about most players on the roster. What I will say is that after the embarrassment of the Tigers game, Milford was beginning to step up more in the big moments to give Brisbane a lead. However, Origin came around, the team struggled to even do the basics and since Seibs had already cut half the roster the only ace he had left was moving Milford to fullback. It actually wasn't a bad move considering the circumstances and Milford had some of his best performances of the season in that position. However it was a bandaid solution which ultimately culminated in 2020.
I touched on it, but in his first two weeks, he was in the best shape in seasons finally getting to enjoy the benefits of a full pre-season without major surgery or club upheavel. Then everyone at the club came back in worse shape and they never manged to find their footing. Milford eventually suffered an injury, was pushed to fullback where he could barely move and ended up tearing his hamstring. He's then rushed back early and ends up tearing it a couple of more times as the coaching staff push him to come back before his time.
As it currently stands, his story is about a promising young player who went to a big club and proved a bust. The issue with Milford is that he doesn't make things happen, he relies on individual brilliance and he just isn't brilliant enough to pull it off. He's like Shaun Johnson, except without the speed or skill-set. Maybe it will all click for him and he'll have a resurgence like Jack Wighton or Cody Walker managed but time is running out and the Broncos don't appear to be a good fit for him.
