Kevvie swings the axe on million-dollar Milf
BRONCOS coach Kevin Walters has wielded the axe on his underperforming stars, with million-dollar man Anthony Milford set to be dropped for Thursday’s epic encounter against Penrith.
The shock axing comes as Milford’s future at Red Hill remains in doubt, with club bosses expected to decide by mid-June whether to offer the besieged playmaker a new contract with the Broncos.
The 26-year-old Milford was relegated to Brisbane’s reserves squad during Monday’s
training session, with Tom Dearden and Brodie Croft training as the starting halves.
Milford wasn’t even substituted into the starting team in an early indication he will be playing for Souths Logan
Magpies in this weekend’s Intrust Super Cup.
Talented youngster Tesi Niu is also in the firing line when Walters names his starting 17 today and will likely be replaced by Jesse Arthars in the right centre position.
The playing group has been warned more selection bombshells will drop if they continue to underperform.
“Everyone across the squad is vulnerable to it and if you’re not performing, Kevvie has shown that he’ll sit you out, including myself,” Broncos enforcer Matt Lodge said.
“The team needs something. We’ve played the nice guy for a while and it’s not getting us anywhere.
“Someone has to put their foot down and be ruthless.
“Whether it’s Milf this time, or me or whoever, there is a time when you’re not performing you’re out.
“It is a big call but good on Kevvie. Milf cops a lot of heat and pressure but he should know it’s not all on him.
“There’s a lot of guys around him who are letting him down and unfortunately he’s taking the (heat) for it … he’s our senior guy. Kevvie has made a stand with him.”
The Broncos are 1-4 to start the season, including thumpings by the Storm and the Rabbitohs in the past fortnight, and face their toughest challenge yet this week when they host ladder-leaders Penrith at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
The poor win-loss record has prompted Walters to wield the selection axe for this week but Lodge warned it would be a longer process.
“Enough is enough and won’t be tolerated,” he said.
“It’s probably going to take more than a week to fix everything.” it