Milford’s $1m deal under threat
Anthony Milford faces a career-defining year at Red Hill with the Broncos ready to slash his $1m salary – or axe him altogether.
Anthony Milford faces a career-defining year at Red Hill with Broncos bosses ready to slash his $1 million salary – or axe him altogether – if he fails to ignite Brisbane’s attack this season.
Milford has shown he is ready to fight for his future by producing a sizzling pre-season, slashing almost 5kg from his frame ahead of his 2020 debut in the NRL Nines tournament starting Friday in Perth.
His past two pre-seasons hampered by surgeries, Milford is finally fit and injury-free, with Broncos assistant coach Kurt Richards revealing the underfire pivot is the fittest he’s been in his five-year career at the Broncos.
It is an emphatic statement by Milford at a time when Broncos powerbrokers are applying a forensic microscope to the $1m-a-season contract that makes him the highest-paid player in Brisbane’s history.
For all his natural talent, the monster contract has been a millstone around Milford’s neck and now Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold is assessing the ramifications for the Broncos’ salary-cap position.
The 25-year-old is contracted until the end of next season but the 2021 component of his deal is a 12-month option in his favour, technically making him a free agent this year. Milford has until May to produce some sublime form and convince Brisbane bosses he is worth retaining on the same salary, or risk being released on a subsidised deal if the Broncos finally lose faith in his ability to be their franchise player.
Seibold pulled no punches with Milford in the off-season, warning he must work harder, and the Queensland Origin utility has responded in a sign he is ready to fight for the Broncos’ No 6 jumper.
“He is certainly the fittest he has been at the club,” said Richards of Milford, who joined the Broncos from Canberra at the start of 2015.
“He has spoken about his skin folds, but he will obviously be judged on what he does out on the park. There’s plenty to expect from Anthony and being with someone like Brodie Croft (halfback recruit from the Storm) will suit him well.
“Anthony isn’t one to game-manage a team and get them around the park and focus on his sets on the last play. He now has ‘Crofty’ who can do that job and he can sit back and keep his eyes on the opposition and pull the trigger when he needs to.”
The Courier-Mail
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