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Wayne Bennett returns to the Brisbane Broncos with a dilemma from day one – Ben Barba, Josh Hoffman and Anthony Milford all fighting for the Broncos fullback jersey.
If you thought current Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin struggled with the Barba and Hoffman fullback situation in the 19 rounds of 2014, wait until Anthony Milford is thrown into the mix.
Barba has been Griffin’s first choice fullback for the majority of the 2014 season, but he has failed to live up to expectation.
He has copped 18 weeks’ worth of criticism. Although in saying that, we can’t expect him to constantly play up to his 2012 standard.
Hoffman has played five-eighth for most of the year, where he has been steady, with halves partner Ben Hunt dominating. You get the sense Hoffman is playing out of position. However, last Saturday night against the Warriors, Hoffman played fullback for the majority of the game, and was outstanding.
It was easily Hoffman’s best game of the year, the most noteworthy highlight when he miraculously held Sam Tomkins up, who looked certain to score.
With Brisbane playing Melbourne this Friday night, it will be interesting to see who Griffin plays at fullback. A test for anybody with Cooper Cronk as the opposing number 7.
Boom 19-year-old fullback Anthony Milford will join the club in 2015. Many are of the opinion that Milford will play number 6 for Brisbane next year, however he is setting the rugby league world on fire at fullback.
Fox Sports commentator Brett Kimmorley, while commentating on the Titans versus Raiders game two weeks ago, said that he would rather Milford in the fullback jersey, as he has the freedom to move around the field more, playing the off-the-cuff style football that makes him so dangerous.
Opposing fans hold their breath when they see Anthony Milford roaming around the back, due to the sheer brilliance he brings to even a struggling Canberra outfit. This year alone he has scored 8 tries from 17 appearances, with 10 try assists, 23 offloads, and has clocked up over 2000 metres.
The most fascinating yet not surprising stats are that he has 15 linebreaks for the year, almost one per game, and 87 tackle busts, which is second in the competition only behind Josh Mansour.
His man of the match effort against the Titans was such high quality from the fullback, Wayne Bennett must question if he wants Milford anywhere but at fullback.
Barba statistics don’t go anywhere near Milford’s this season. Barba only has three tries and four try assists. He has run over 500 metres less than Milford, and has 11 fewer linebreaks.
Of the three, one will stay fullback, the other will go to five-eighth, and the third perhaps would move to the wing.
With Justin Hodges and Jack Reed occupying the centre positions, it seems a waste having such a high-quality fullback playing on the wing for a season.
For Wayne Bennett and the Brisbane Broncos, it is a fantastic headache to have for the 2015 season, and it will be interesting to see what direction they go.
Let’s just hope Darius Boyd doesn’t follow Wayne to the Broncos.
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