Ahead of his NRL head coaching debut, Kevin Walters has explained how Anthony Milford can return to his best form after years of treading water in Brisbane.
Walters has walked in Milford’s shoes, so he can appreciate the pressure mounting on Brisbane’s five-eighth to deliver this season.
The Broncos’ playmaker took them within one tackle of an NRL premiership in 2015, with Walters an assistant coach at the time, but has since struggled to emulate that form despite becoming their richest-ever signing.
Off contract after this season, Milford and Brodie Croft have been handed the keys by Walters as he begins his head coaching career at the club he won five titles with as a half.
A hamstring injury curtailed Milford’s 2020 season while a broken hand has disrupted his pre-season but Walters said there were no excuses ahead of Friday’s NRL opener against Parramatta.
“(It’s about) just keeping him happy; he’s certainly fit, looking forward to playing and if I put myself in Anthony’s shoes he’s under a lot of pressure and the only way of answering that is putting in a performance that everybody here knows he can do,” the coach said.
“So that’s up to Anthony now to produce the form we didn’t see much of last year, but I have a lot of trust and faith in what he can bring to the team.”
Walters isn’t interested in reflecting on their 2015 exploits but said Milford’s best mode of operation was clear.
“His best asset is running the ball and defensively we need him to be strong as well, because he’ll have some big guys coming at him,” Walters said.
“When he’s at his best there’s no better player in the competition in my books.”
He’ll have Croft for company after the former Melbourne Storm halfback beat teenager Tom Dearden to the No.7 jersey.
The side trained under lights for the first time all pre-season at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
The Eels beat Brisbane 58-0 in the first week of the 2019 finals series in what proved a sign of things to come for the club in 2020.
Another 34-6 loss to the Eels in the first week back after the COVID-19 shut down last season sent the Broncos into freefall.
Walters said simple things would stop the rot this season.
“Defending well, getting to the kick and then kicking long; it’s pretty simple but that’s rugby league and the good teams will do that this weekend,” he said.
© AAP
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Trying to multi-task, doing an interview while on dad duty, his daughter went to give Pat Carrigan a hug and it took a while…
My American mate wants a Canberra Raiders jersey. If someone had told me a couple of months ago that I’d have friends in the…
Was there a beer at Suncorp Stadium that Jack Walters didn't inhale on Friday night?
Derbies are often rated on intensity rather than quality, and that was very much to the fore at Suncorp for the third Battle of…
The Panthers might have the bye this weekend, but that has not stopped them from suffering injury issues, with reports in the Sydney Morning…
Josh Schuster's days at Manly could be numbered after the big-money second-rower was granted permission to open negotiations with NRL rivals. Just 10 months…
