Round 15 judiciary: Tuilagi hit with hefty ban for spear tackle, JWH, DWZ in strife, Riki charged for cheap shot
The NRL match review committee has come down hard on Eels forward Kelma Tuilagi even though he was spared a send-off for his dangerous…
He’s been earmarked as a future NRL halves star, but young gun Anthony Milford wants to stay at fullback in his final year for Canberra.
Milford, who’s off to Brisbane in 2015 for family reasons after a drawn-out contract saga, had a breakout season for the Raiders last year, winning Dally M rookie of the year and the Raiders’ Mal Meninga Medal.
And with halfback legend Ricky Stuart the new Raiders coach, many tipped 2014 as the year Milford would make the fulltime switch to the halves.
However the 19-year-old says he has no intention of breaking up the combination between captain Terry Campese and Josh McCrone.
“They’ve got a good combo going, I’m happy at the back,” Milford said at Raiders pre-season training on Thursday.
“But that will come down to injuries. Wherever I can do my thing for the team, that’s where I’ll be.”
While in the long term Milford sees himself as a halfback or five-eighth, his World Cup run at fullback with Samoa – where he put on two man-of-the-match performances – had given him the desire for another year in the No 1 jersey.
“You can see where the spaces are and stuff like that. Who’s tired and who’s not, and you don’t have to do as much of the thinking,” he said.
Campese said while Stuart would tinker with combinations during the trials, Milford would probably stay at the back.
“At fullback he can learn a lot, and he did win the Mal Meninga Medal when he played fullback,” Campese said.
“But he’s definitely a half for the future.”
Campese said he was confident that Milford would continue his sensational form for the Raiders, despite being contracted to the Broncos next season.
“Footballers are competitive and when they get out on the football field they want to win games,” he said.
“He’s a competitor, he wants to win and I can’t wait to play alongside him again.”
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