Anthony Milford injury adds to Brisbane’s 2019 woes

Brisbane’s season from hell plummeted to new depths with Red Hill confirming Anthony Milford could be out for the rest of the season.

Anthony Milford will be sidelined indefinitely with a knee injury. Picture: AAP

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The Broncos have confirmed million-dollar man Anthony Milford will be out indefinitely with a knee injury.

The club announced the playmaker suffered left-lateral knee damage during last weekend’s loss to Newcastle with club medics reporting Milford would be sidelined indefinitely.

Brisbane athletic performance coach Andrew Croll said: “It looks as though the early diagnosis is a lateral meniscus (injury).”

Anthony Milford will be sidelined indefinitely with a knee injury. Picture: AAP

“The severity could be anywhere between one to two weeks with a conservative approach.

“If requiring surgery, depending on if it’s a repair or removal, (recovery could be) anywhere between six to 12 weeks.”

The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for under-siege Broncos coach Anthony Seibold, who faces a litmus test against Cronulla on Sunday without a host of players.

Matt Gillett, Corey Oates, David Fifita, Joe Ofahengaue and Payne Haas will be ruled out with Origin commitments while luckless winger Richard Kennar looks likely to undergo surgery to a dislocated shoulder pending results from a surgical review on Tuesday.

He’ll join halfback Tom Dearden (due back Rd 20), backrower Alex Glenn (Rd 16) and centre Jack Bird (season) in Brisbane’s growing casualty ward and though Glenn is hopeful of returning from his own knee complaint and lining up against the Sharks, Milford’s injury leaves Brisbane dangerously low on star power.

The Broncos have already lost Kodi Nikorima (Warriors), Tanah Boyd (Titans) and teen sensation Sam Walker (Roosters) to rival clubs and with both Milford and Dearden sidelined for the immediate future, Brisbane’s hopes will rest upon rookie halves options Sean O’Sullivan, Troy Dargan and Cory Paix.

With Darius Boyd likely to return to fullback in Milford’s absence, O’Sullivan should retain the halfback jersey and leave the five-eighth role to either Dargan, Paix or versatile hooker Jake Turpin.

All three options are a gamble given their inexperience at NRL level but Seibold has few options at his disposal.

Statistically, Dargan leads Paix head-to-head in this year’s Intrust Super Cup with nine try assists, seven line break assists and 2,027 kicking metres to Paix’s five try assists, four line break assists and 1,301 kicking metres.

Yet Paix has Seibold’s confidence after signing a three-year extension last week while Turpin could be favoured over both given his breakout season and capacity to play in the halves.

Playmakers aren’t Brisbane’s only concern - with both Oates and Kennar unavailable this week, Brisbane are set to blood untried wingers Xavier Coates and Herbie Farnsworth against the experienced Sharks backline.