Baby Blues
Kennel Enthusiast
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2005
- Messages
- 4,303
- Reaction score
- 2,815
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...-to-the-bulldogs/story-fni3gmmu-1226769953503
The long-awaited finalisation of Anthony Milford's future is likely to end Canterbury's hopes of stealing Josh Hoffman, while Kiwi custodian Kevin Locke has emerged as a top candidate to fill the Raiders' No.1 jersey in 2015.
Before leaving for Samoa last weekend for a post World Cup holiday, Milford surrendered the battle to quit the final year of his Canberra deal and re-join family in Brisbane immediately.
With Canberra's board committed to enforcing the contract through the courts, the 19-year-old was advised to sidestep a stressful legal stoush and make his move to the Broncos at the end of next season.
Negotiations between Brisbane officials and Milford's agent, Sam Ayoub, struck a two-year deal on Tuesday night that will tie him to the Broncos for 2015 and 2016.
Milford had wanted to activate a clause in his contract, which enabled the Souths Logan junior to return to Brisbane for family reasons. He argued the health of his father Malo, who is recovering from a heart attack, was reason enough to justify leaving. But after losing NSW Origin pair Blake Ferguson and Josh Dugan last season, the Raiders stood firm.
"Canberra had made their minds up to fight it and in the end, no-one wanted to see a 19-year-old go through a long and disruptive legal battle," Ayoub said.
"That's the last thing Anthony needs at this stage of his career."
Although Milford burst onto the scene at fullback this season, he has signed to play in his preferred position of five-eighth with the Broncos in 2015.
But the 12-month gap has created a problematic halves vacuum for Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin, who has lost established playmakers Corey Norman, Scott Prince and Peter Wallace over the past year.
Prince and Wallace were released in the expectation of having Milford on deck for 2014, leaving the inconsistent Ben Hunt as Brisbane's only recognised half with NRL experience for next season.
The lack of options could force Griffin to move star recruit Ben Barba to No.6, granting the restless Hoffman a reprieve that will again see him line-up at fullback.
Canterbury were hopeful of convincing the Broncos to release Hoffman to replace Barba at fullback, and Bulldogs players in the Kiwi World Cup squad had been enticing the youngster to join them at Belmore.
But given their lack of attacking options for next year, Brisbane are now highly unlikely to grant Hoffman an early release. The Daily Telegraph understands Canterbury have been told that Hoffman would not be leaving if the Broncos failed to secure Milford a year early.
The off-contract Griffin refused to discuss Hoffman's future yesterday, but did nominate both him and Barba as five-eighth candidates.
The Daily Telegraph can also reveal Canberra earmarked Locke as a contingency to play fullback had Milford not been convinced to stay for another year.
Raiders officials held talks with Locke's management about a release from the final year of his New Zealand Warriors deal, while Melbourne also saw the 24-year-old as a potential replacement for Gareth Widdop at five-eighth.
Penrith were another aggressive suitor for Locke's services, but Warriors coach Matt Elliott is loathe to lose yet another player to his old club.
The Warriors granted Locke permission to negotiate with rival clubs after they signed English fullback Sam Tomkins on a multi-million dollar deal.
In further good news for the Raiders, boom NYC centre Branko Lee has decided to knock back a monster offer from the Warriors to re-sign for three more years.
The long-awaited finalisation of Anthony Milford's future is likely to end Canterbury's hopes of stealing Josh Hoffman, while Kiwi custodian Kevin Locke has emerged as a top candidate to fill the Raiders' No.1 jersey in 2015.
Before leaving for Samoa last weekend for a post World Cup holiday, Milford surrendered the battle to quit the final year of his Canberra deal and re-join family in Brisbane immediately.
With Canberra's board committed to enforcing the contract through the courts, the 19-year-old was advised to sidestep a stressful legal stoush and make his move to the Broncos at the end of next season.
Negotiations between Brisbane officials and Milford's agent, Sam Ayoub, struck a two-year deal on Tuesday night that will tie him to the Broncos for 2015 and 2016.
Milford had wanted to activate a clause in his contract, which enabled the Souths Logan junior to return to Brisbane for family reasons. He argued the health of his father Malo, who is recovering from a heart attack, was reason enough to justify leaving. But after losing NSW Origin pair Blake Ferguson and Josh Dugan last season, the Raiders stood firm.
"Canberra had made their minds up to fight it and in the end, no-one wanted to see a 19-year-old go through a long and disruptive legal battle," Ayoub said.
"That's the last thing Anthony needs at this stage of his career."
Although Milford burst onto the scene at fullback this season, he has signed to play in his preferred position of five-eighth with the Broncos in 2015.
But the 12-month gap has created a problematic halves vacuum for Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin, who has lost established playmakers Corey Norman, Scott Prince and Peter Wallace over the past year.
Prince and Wallace were released in the expectation of having Milford on deck for 2014, leaving the inconsistent Ben Hunt as Brisbane's only recognised half with NRL experience for next season.
The lack of options could force Griffin to move star recruit Ben Barba to No.6, granting the restless Hoffman a reprieve that will again see him line-up at fullback.
Canterbury were hopeful of convincing the Broncos to release Hoffman to replace Barba at fullback, and Bulldogs players in the Kiwi World Cup squad had been enticing the youngster to join them at Belmore.
But given their lack of attacking options for next year, Brisbane are now highly unlikely to grant Hoffman an early release. The Daily Telegraph understands Canterbury have been told that Hoffman would not be leaving if the Broncos failed to secure Milford a year early.
The off-contract Griffin refused to discuss Hoffman's future yesterday, but did nominate both him and Barba as five-eighth candidates.
The Daily Telegraph can also reveal Canberra earmarked Locke as a contingency to play fullback had Milford not been convinced to stay for another year.
Raiders officials held talks with Locke's management about a release from the final year of his New Zealand Warriors deal, while Melbourne also saw the 24-year-old as a potential replacement for Gareth Widdop at five-eighth.
Penrith were another aggressive suitor for Locke's services, but Warriors coach Matt Elliott is loathe to lose yet another player to his old club.
The Warriors granted Locke permission to negotiate with rival clubs after they signed English fullback Sam Tomkins on a multi-million dollar deal.
In further good news for the Raiders, boom NYC centre Branko Lee has decided to knock back a monster offer from the Warriors to re-sign for three more years.
