It is with genuine despair that this season review was written; and that is testament to the impact that Anthony Milford has had in his brief time at the Raiders.
Milford’s spectacular rise to NRL stardom began just last year when in his debut season in the NRL, the prodigiously talented youngster was awarded the Meninga Medal.
Unfortunately for Raiders fans, at the end of 2013 Milford also chose to return home to Brisbane and play for the Broncos when his contract with Canberra expired at the end of 2014.
Whilst Milford’s team mates, coaching staff, Raiders sponsors and members were all disappointed to have lost a player who had been developed by the club since he was signed to a scholarship at 13 years of age, nobody could question his commitment to the Green Machine this season.
Milford was simply superb in 2014.
The Souths Logan product never shied away from how much the Raiders had done for him and as such, Milford intended to give his absolute all for the club on and off the field to pay thanks.
Milford played in every single game for Canberra in 2014 and finished fourth in the overall leader board for the Meninga Medal.
Equally adept at fullback or in the halves, Milford consistently ignited the side’s attack with his wide range of breathtaking attacking skills.
When you pay close attention to Milford’s statistics from this season, it is not hard to see why the club was so despondent to lose him to the Broncos.
Milford was the second highest try scorer, the second highest point scorer and led the way in try assists, line breaks, line break assists and tackle breaks. He also registered the third most offloads for good measure.
Due to Milford’s stellar form for the Raiders, the 20 year old received several representative honours along the way.
The first representative honour came in April when Milford was selected to Captain the Queensland Under 20’s side alongside Raiders NYC players Luke Bateman, Brenko Lee and Patrick Mago.
Following the Raiders final match of 2014, a 33-20 win over the Parramatta Eels, Milford was selected in the Australian Kangaroos squad for the upcoming Four Nations tournament.
From this squad, Milford was selected at five-eighth in the Prime Minister’s XIII for the match against the PNG Kumuls at Kokopo on Sunday October 12.
Milford was also named as the One Solutions Rest of the World Representative Player of the Year at the Rugby League Player's Association Awards for his achievements on the international front with Samoa at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.
Despite his growing list of accomplishments, Milford remained humble and polite off the field. He always made time for fans, particularly young fans that looked up to him with idolisation.
Alas, Milford will appear in different colours next year and Raiders fans will recount his days in the Nation’s Capital with mixed emotions; joy at having witnessed his entertaining feats in the famous lime green jersey and sadness that there won’t be more days in the near future.
Milford leaves behind a long list of highlight reels during his two year stint at the Raiders and the club wishes him all the very best in the future, aside from when he is playing against us of course.
The door will always be open Anthony, don’t be afraid to knock!
Games: 24
Average Minutes: 78
Tries: 12
Try Assists: 14
Try Saves: 3
Line Breaks: 17
Line Break Assists: 16
Tackle Breaks: 90
Average Metres: 108.1
Average Tackles: 4.4
Offloads: 29
Kick Metres: 51 kicks for 1418 metres
