Broncos wary of fired-up Milford

THE Brisbane Broncos are expecting Anthony Milford to be “fired up” to face his former club on his return to the NRL.

Following a turbulent seven years at Brisbane, Milford (pictured) signed a one-year deal with the Rabbitohs for 2022.

But when he was charged with three counts of assault in September, the NRL refused to register the contract.

Milford’s assault charges were dropped last month and following an investigation of its own, the NRL cleared the 27-year-old to return to play with the Newcastle Knights from round 11.

Jake Clifford and Adam Clune are struggling to recapture the form they showed in the opening fortnight of the season, so Milford is a chance to come straight into the side for Thursday night’s match.

The Broncos expect Milford to be raring to go against the club that let him go.

“If he does play it’ll be good to see him back in the NRL,” former Broncos teammate Thomas Flegler said.

“It’s his first game back in a while and he’s coming up against his former club. He’s definitely going to be fired up.”

In Magic Round, the Knights won for the first time in nearly two months but still have plenty of work to do on their attack.

Only the Bulldogs have scored fewer points than Newcastle across the first 10 rounds, but having a playmaker of Milford’s calibre on the books could help turn things around from this week.

“We all know ‘Milf’,’’ Flegler said. “He plays eyes-up footy and he can be very dangerous, so we’ll be very aware of him and where he’s playing.”

The Broncos appear to have put their worst two seasons on record behind them to be seventh on the ladder, but they won’t take the Knights lightly as they aim for their first fivegame winning streak since 2017.

“We know that (the Knights) are coming off a win and they are going to be very confident,” Flegler said. “This won’t be an easy task.”