NRL 2022: The hard work and strict diet that has Anthony Milford ready to tackle Broncos

When Anthony Milford reported to the Knights he was not ready to play in the NRL, Brent Read details the hard work and tough love that club and player put in.

The road to redemption for Anthony Milford would begin before the sun had risen. In darkness, the former Brisbane Broncos star would meet Newcastle head of medical Craig Catterick and conditioner Mick Reid for sapping sessions of cross training and boxing as he took the first formative steps on his NRL return

Milford never missed a session. He never arrived late. He never complained and he never asked questions. He ripped in, took a rest and then went again at lunchtime in a training session with his new teammates, his eyes on a prize that was weeks away.

Milford didn't clock off when the Knights finished training. He would meet Catterick again at 6pm for his third session of the day – 45 minutes of swimming or pool conditioning. He did it all for his first seven days in Newcastle on a diet of 1,200 calories.

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Breakfast was an egg on toast. Lunch was some rice cakes with peanut butter. Dinner consisted of 100 grams of tuna or 120 grams of rice with some vegetables. If he wanted a snack, he had to make do with nuts.

Again, there were no complaints and no shortcuts. Just a footballer determined to make the most of another chance.

“He would train at 6am in the morning – he would cross train with me or box with Mick Reid,” Catterick said.

“Mick has been a trainer and player here for years. Old school, great guy. He would rest and then do whatever the team was going that day.

“He would come back at 6pm at night – every night – and swim with me for 45 minutes, do pool conditioning.

“All his running was done with the team on the field. Then he would be off legs again at night in the pool. With a 1200 calorie diet for the first seven days, he dropped four kilos.”

ICYMI: Anthony Milford is set to make his Club debut tomorrow night 🔥

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— Newcastle Knights (@NRLKnights) May 18, 2022

Things eased in the second week. Milford would still train in the morning and with the team during the day, but he would be given the night off and his diet would include more calories.

In the third week, life returned to normal aside from some extras that were negotiated between Milford and the training staff.

By week four, he was ready to go and on Thursday night he will make his debut for Newcastle against the club he left at the end of last season – Brisbane.

Plenty has happened since them. Milford had his contract torn up by South Sydney and was stood down by the NRL after an off-field incident that led to the intervention of the integrity unit and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo.

He was sidelined by the NRL until round 11. Only now has he been allowed to return to the game and such has been the impression he has made around training since joining the Knights a month ago, he has been rushed straight into the Newcastle side to face the Broncos at McDonald Jones Stadium on Thursday night.

“What we did as a physical performance staff – we had four weeks to try to get some rugby league specific conditioning into him and also get some weight off him,” Catterick said.

“So as a staff we came up with a strategic plan where the fist week was just stripping him down as much as we could.

“Then the second week was keep that intensity up – instead of training three times a day we trained twice a day but gave him more food to train.

“The third week we just let him get back into the norm, routine of training. In week four he was back with the boys.

“He never missed a beat and he never complained once, not once, in the first four weeks. (Knights coach) Adam (O’Brien) was right in the press conference the other day when he said every time he (Milford) turned around there was a physical performance person in his face saying let’s go do this, let’s go do that.

“He would say okay. He did everything we asked of him.”

Catterick was often that man in his shadow. He estimates that he and Milford spent four or five hours together a day during that first week. That’s not including the phone calls in between to offer support and remind Milford what was at stake.

“It was four to five hours a day for first seven days with lots of phone calls in between, reiterating it would be worth it,” Cattereick said.

“You can’t out-train a bad diet. Even though you are alone, you have to be disciplined and he was great.

“He is very focused on resurrecting his career, very focused on a new opportunity that has been given to him and I don’t think he is going to let that go.

“Sometimes you don’t know what you have got until you have lost it. Having lost that rugby league lifeline and work, what he loved, I think it has made him a lot hungrier to succeed.

“I just hope people don’t expect miracles from him on the first night because whatever we have done training-wise will never simulate being out of rugby league for such a long time with the game intensity.”

Milford arrived at Newcastle tipping the scales at 95kg. He will play at around 92kg, having regained some weight as his focus has turned from fitness to strength training. He has shown the sort of commitment that has been absent at times in his career.

Milford knows he is running out of chances. He was on the richest deal in Broncos history before the club allowed him to leave. The Rabbitohs thought he wasn’t worth the trouble, having initially offered him a lifeline.

The Knights have given him a chance when his options were running low. There is talk of a move to The Dolphins next year but Milford can aid his cause by showing Newcastle fans – and the wider rugby league public – that he is not a lost cause.

“I just hope the he gets reward for his hard work,” Catterick said.

“He is going to be blowing at times in that game. We all know that. If you are Milf, you know the big forwards are going to spot you up.

“He has been doing that all his life – he is used to that. I hope he can hold his gloves up as long as he can because you do get better as the weeks go on.

“It is match fitness that he needs. We weren’t fortunate enough to be given him the opportunity to play him in reserve grade or up in Queensland.

“He has gone from nothing to first grade which is a massive step no matter what training you do.”

PONGA’S MESSAGE FOR HATERS AND CAPTAINCY CRITICS

Kalyn Ponga has responded to criticism of his captaincy and outlined why Newcastle’s current struggles will potentially shape him into a premiership-winning skipper at the Knights.

Ponga will attempt to lead the Knights to back-to-back wins for the second time this season when they host the resurgent Brisbane Broncos at McDonald Jones Stadium on Thursday night.

While the Knights got back in the winner’s circle with a 16-6 triumph over the Bulldogs last week, 2022 has been the toughest season of Ponga’s 91-game career.

It started positively when he was handed the Newcastle captaincy – following in the footsteps of NRL greats Andrew Johns, Paul Harragon and Danny Buderus – and the Knights won their first two games of the season.

Kalyn Ponga’s contract negotiations became a circus. Picture: Getty

But a knee injury was compounded by seven straight losses as the Knights sunk to last place on the ladder, below the battling Bulldogs heading into Magic Round last weekend.

Ponga, 24, was also at the centre of a contract circus as he attempted to secure his long-term future amid a multimillion-dollar battle between the Knights and Redcliffe expansion club the Dolphins.

He was criticised during his protracted contract negotiations, in which he eventually signed a five-year $6 million deal with the Knights, and then again when he made less than inspiring comments about his leadership following a 48-point loss to Melbourne.

The Queensland Origin star has come under fire multiple times this year, but said he was focused on leading the Knights out of their current slump.

It’s been a tough start to the year for Ponga. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

“It’s okay, it is what it is,” Ponga said of the criticism.

“People have their opinions and I can’t really worry about that.

“I have been made captain and we’ve gone on this run we have, which hasn’t been the best.

“All I can do is worry about my performances, what I can control and how the boys see that.

“Hopefully if I keep doing the right things, things will turn.”

Ponga has never been one to shy away from a challenge.

He made his NRL debut for the Cowboys during the 2016 finals series as an 18-year-old and was thrust into the State of Origin arena after only 20 first grade games.

The Knights got a much-needed win at Magic Round. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

With the Knights lacking leadership options, Ponga accepted an offer from coach Adam O’Brien to captain the club and while it hasn’t been an easy initiation, he believes Newcastle’s current struggles will make him a better leader as he chases an elusive NRL premiership.

“It has been (brutal). Losing isn’t the nicest feeling and being the captain of a losing side definitely isn’t the nicest feeling,” Ponga said.

“It has been tough but we are not far off. We have lost some close games and the effort has been there. We’ve had some injuries.

“The beauty about this period is that I will get so much out of it. I will learn so much out of this and hopefully look back at it sometime soon and think ‘this is what was happening and this is what I learnt’.

“Even though we wouldn’t like to be in this position, it is a big opportunity and challenge ahead of us. We will get out of it and once we do we will look back and see what we learnt.

“It’s a massive challenge for me but it is good and what I look forward to.”

Ponga and the Knights face a tough challenge against the Broncos this week. Picture: Getty

The Broncos have won their past four games and will go into the clash as comfortable favourites despite Newcastle’s drought-breaking win last week and the inclusion of ex-Brisbane playmaker Anthony Milford at five-eighth.

But Broncos coach Kevin Walters is aware of Ponga’s threat, having handed him his Origin debut for the Maroons in 2020, and knows the Knights will not be easy beats with him at fullback.

“I know Kalyn well enough and he is a very competitive person,” Walters said.

“He is a very good player. He is in the elite level.

“I’m sure he will be looking to do everything he can this week to get his club over the line.”