The old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ may well be applicable in car yards, supermarkets and hardware stores, yet it appears to be well off the mark when it comes to the Brisbane Broncos and Anthony Milford.
It is difficult to pinpoint another modern player who has been paid an equally princely sum for such frustrating and inconsistent performances.
In 2012, and after a decorated representative junior career, Milford arrived in the nation’s capital with accolades aplenty. There was little time spent in the NYC, with his career fast tracked when he joined the Raiders’ NRL squad early in 2013.
So dynamic and promising he was, Milford soon become the talk of the NRL community.
That chatter was well researched, with the Brisbane-born youngster likely to become one of the best players in the NRL should his ascension continue. He possessed, and still does, a turn of foot the envy of many, a powerful frame that challenged any defender and a penchant for the freakish via an impressive skill set.
In late 2013 and with Milford still just 18 years of age, the Broncos came knocking with a contract worth $900,000 over two seasons. With the lure of a return to his home state attractive and necessary at the time, Milford signed, destined to return home after one final season in Canberra.
Anthony Milford of the Brisbane Broncos (Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)
That season saw little sign of anything other than the continued emergence of a new NRL star, with Milford close to State of Origin and Kangaroo selection.
His arrival in Brisbane was to coincide with the return of coach Wayne Bennett and a heart-breaking loss to North Queensland in the 2015 grand final.
There were finals appearances in the three seasons that followed under Bennett and Milford’s potential value continued to climb. As such, he became a million dollar player early in 2017, with a deal struck that would keep him in Brisbane until the end of the 2021 season.
As certain and prudent as that signing may have appeared to the Broncos back then, with one of the most promising and exciting young players in the nation locked away for five seasons, the investment has proven to be a rather frustrating and fruitless exercise.
In fact, the average Broncos fan now appears rather supportive of the idea of cutting Milford loose and investing elsewhere. It has been a stunning downfall, one nobody saw coming during the promising Canberra days.
However, the Raiders have been the long-term winners, after accepting Milford’s request to return to Brisbane for family reasons.
The majority of NRL fans could not give a flying banana how poorly Brisbane perform in the NRL competition, given the Broncos’ historically sweet Friday night draws and their consistent ability to field a team stacked with a host of representative players.
In fact, there may well be a number of rugby league fans taking some sort of sick pleasure in watching the Broncos battle under new coach Anthony Seibold and a five-eighth in Milford who continues to struggle to provide the spark required.
Yet up north, there is no such mirth. Without a premiership since 2006, and after appearing to be back on track when Wayne Bennett threatened to win another in his most recent stint at the club, Broncos fans are none too pleased.
There was general disappointment in the Ivan Henjak and Anthony Griffin eras, Bennett restored some hope soon after, yet Seibold appears to have missed the mark in terms of recruitment and retention and the Broncos appear to be on the slide.
Thus, the lug nuts look to be well and truly loose and the Broncos cart developing the most distinct of wobbles, with much of the blame attributed to a consistently inconsistent Milford.
You can always tell a Milford man. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Darius Boyd is also in the crosshairs, with his form and commitment well below NRL standard, the team’s inability to score points is obvious and all the while Milford’s play continues to be nothing short of vacuous.
A chicken or egg discussion emanates from such a situation. Is Milford the core issue? Or is the overall team performance doing little to provide him with the opportunities required to convert on the scoreboard?
People will form their own view on that. However, it is for certain that the Broncos’ investment in Milford has at this point been unrequited.
Different coaches, tactics and positional changes within the team have all failed to fully unlock the talent inside what appeared to be a potential modern-day NRL superstar and I guess the Broncos have two options.
Either cut their losses and look elsewhere for their next premiership-winning pivot, or re-sign Anthony Milford for 2022 and beyond in the hope that the world will one day see the best of him.
Andrew
Roar Pro
How about a swap? Broncos take Ben Hunt back & we try our luck with Milford?
Chris Love
Roar Guru
Keary is off contract at the end of 2021 so would surely be a target if the Roosters don’t re-sign him soon. It surely he would have to be offered massive dollars to leave the Roosters who are favourites to win this years premiership for the Rabble that is Nrisbane right now. Munster is contracted until 2023. I doubt you’d get him leaving Melbourne whilst Bellamy is there but who knows.
Flexis
Roar Rookie
I reckon Turpin will make 14 if not 9
Flexis
Roar Rookie
Lot easier to blame Milford if they were simply running through their sets and lacking a killer blow. But they’re not even close. They’re getting no ball, no field possession and no luck. When you’re in that position you just need to focus on completing your sets. Then when we rarely are on a roll there is no shortage of opportunity. But everyone is trying to be a hero. So there have been very limited opportunities for Milford to play his natural game. I’d be a bit disinterested too. It’s not his fault they’re not playing as a team. Nor is it that the Broncos paid overs for him.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
When the Dragons won 11 straight GF's it certainly wasn't boring for their fans & gained them lots of supporters outside Sydney as a result. When a team dominates a competition it should provide the others with an incentive to improve & challenge for the title.
astro
Roar Rookie
Yep. I guess all the more reason not to sign him in the first place for such a large sum, given he was unproven at 6, and there was no opportunity for him to play 1.
AJ
Roar Rookie
Milford needs to be running the team more for the money he's paid, forwards going forward or not. There were plenty of games JT played for the Cowboys when they weren't going well and he either won it in spite of the forwards not getting it done or die trying to win it, and for the $1mil a season I'd expect Milford to be doing the same now. Last game even when we did get into a good field position there was no direction or moments of brilliance to get over the try line
Trevor Heiniger
Guest
Last year Dearden was to be the future of the club. This season has gone so what if it does take some time, We have plenty of time for him to grow into it. Just play him.
Rellum
Roar Guru
There were less QLDers a few years ago
Rellum
Roar Guru
Munster and Keary are the ones. Broncs can do a Rooster and entice them to leave, family reasons worked well
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
''Brisbane'' would die for one year straight.
Ad-O
Guest
Dont agree. Wouldn't hurt Rugby League if Brisbane won it 20 years straight. Not in my eyes. Never hurt the EPL when Manchester United did it, neither did Queensland's run hurt Origin. Big teams winning makes big money.
Ad-O
Guest
Dont agree. Wouldn't hurt Rugby League if Brisbane won it 20 years straight. Not in my eyes. Never hurt the EPL when Manchester United did it, neither did Queensland's run hurt Origin.
Chris Love
Roar Guru
Milford’s current salary versus what he has returned since that $1m a season deal was signed certainly deserves attention. He hasn’t played like a 600k half let alone a $1m dollar one. Having said that, the Broncos have bigger sally cap issues to deal with. Bird and Boyd alone will come off contract and Bird will either have to take a half pay cut or he’ll be gone too. He’s on $1m for 2021. Who can they move on with? No other team except maybe the Dogs or the Titans have the cap space to take a huge chunk of that $1m for next season and they’d be stupid to pay a cent over 400k with the way he’s playing. Even if a transfer could be pulled off, who then comes in for him that’s available on the market? Even for 2022? Drinkwater would have been worth a shout but the timing was bad. NQ will probably lock him up now. They could go into the bidding for SJ for the end of 2021 when he comes of contract at the Sharks. Would essentially have the same problem though. Rocks and diamonds and expecting marquee player money. They’d probably be having to take a punt on a rookie either way they go. They have Dearden but surely he’s competing with Croft for a spot. Matt Burton from the Panthers could be worth a punt. I just don’t see a marquee 5/8 out there right now that could fill his shoes. They may have to wait and hope they can fill those other spine positions for 2021 and reassess. I think if they were to recruit or uncover two excellent players to replace Boyd and Bird, the forward pack gets it’s stuff together then Milford and Croft have the talent to win a premiership. The question is, who’s on offer next year that can fill the full back, centre and possibly even the hooker roles to plug the other holes they have.?
Dominic Brady
Guest
Up side is that Turpin looks great, and they have a stable, as ever, of exciting youngsters including the strikingly impressive Ilikena Vudogo who looks like he could be Radradra 2.0.
Dominic Brady
Guest
He doesn't appear to have the defensive requirements to thrive at fullback.
egbert
Guest
Feels like Milford could, at the end of this or next year, benefit with a season or two in Super League to, hopefully, 'tear it up' and thus regain confidence and come back here with a renewed attitude and the rejuvenation of his talent. It worked for Ben Barba (until it didnt')
Scott
Guest
I'd take Milford over Ash Taylor though I'd take nothing over both of them
Rubbish Surf 69
Roar Rookie
Doesn't help that we've got more Blues and other non maroons in the team than ever before (don't know if that's true statistically but wouldn't be surprised)
Rubbish Surf 69
Roar Rookie
QLD lucky? I'd say NSW are lucky. Every time the chips are down and everyone thinks the cane toads are stuffed, what happens? I wonder if Fatty is available for coaching this year?!