Anthony Seibold urged to shake-up Broncos halves after horror start to season
Brisbane are adamant the Anthony Milford-Kodi Nikorima alliance can break the club’s 13-year premiership drought, but Anthony Seibold has been urged to shake up his side.
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Broncos coach Anthony Seibold is under pressure to shake-up his scrumbase after NRL playmaking legends Johnathan Thurston and Andrew Johns launched a stinging attack on Brisbane halves Anthony Milford and Kodi Nikorima.
NRL Immortal Johns and Queensland Origin great Thurston — two of the code’s most iconic playmakers — believe Seibold must axe Milford as five-eighth for Brisbane’s away clash against Canberra on Sunday week.
The champion duo were unable to comprehend how Milford and Nikorima failed to organise Brisbane’s attack to orchestrate the field goal that would have broken a 16-all deadlock against the Tigers on Thursday night.
Instead of celebrating a 17-16 victory, the Broncos were left to rue a heartbreaking last-minute 22-16 loss that consigned Brisbane to a dismal 1-4 start — their worst beginning to a season in 20 years.
Brisbane are adamant the Milford-Nikorima alliance can break the club’s 13-year premiership drought, but Thurston and Johns insists their pairing cannot be retained for the daunting road trip to face the Raiders.
Watching the Broncos capitulation as Channel 9 commentators, Thurston and Johns have rarely looked so frustrated and animated as they analysed the halves, particularly lashing Milford for his lack of control.
“There has to be changes because they are clutching at straws at the moment,” former Cowboys skipper Thurston said after the gut-wrenching loss at Suncorp Stadium.
“The Broncos are very disorganised.
“They (Milford and Nikorima) don’t seem like they can get the game plan they need to. When the clutch moment is there, as a half you want the ball. I’m not seeing that.
“They have played enough football, especially beside each other. They had a full season last year, they should have been all over that moment (kicking a matchwinning field goal).
“I’d be putting Milford at fullback and Darius (Boyd) into five-eighth … he is the most experienced guy to get them around the park.”
Johns said Milford’s ongoing inconsistency was unacceptable for a playmaker whose $1 million deal makes him the highest-paid player in the Broncos’ 31-year history.
“There has to be change, it’s not working,” Johns said.
“Milford was in position (to kick the field goal), but then he ran up to be a ‘blocker’. Kodi was 30 metres away thinking Milford is going to have a shot.
“It was very disorganised. They were bumbling and fumbling. The Broncos fans must be tearing their hair out. It’s not good enough.
“People say Milford is on $1 million, you can’t drop him, but that’s the reason to move him (to fullback).
“I would be putting Sean O’Sullivan in the halves. He is a smart organiser with good management. He hasn’t got the explosive footwork of Milford but he will get a game plan going.
“When the game is on the line you have to say ‘give me the ball I will win the game’.
“I’m not seeing that from Milford.”
Milford is no longer a playmaking rookie — he played his 148th NRL game against the Tigers — and Seibold challenged him to step up as Brisbane’s main shot-caller.
“That is not a combination thing. That is Milf there,” Seibold said.
“He is our organiser and needs to get the ball … we weren’t happy with that scrum set when we had an opportunity to go down there and ice the game.
“It is a fairly painful lesson.”
Originally published as Anthony Seibold urged to shake-up Broncos halves after horror start to season
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