SuperCoach classic match: Long live the Magic Milf

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Whilst we are sitting around waiting for our beloved footy to start up again (won’t that be a hell of a weekend!), I thought what better way to keep the great game on the radar than to have a look at one of my favourite performances from past years.

It came during one of my favourite stints by a player.

The man is Anthony Milford, the year is 2014 and the stint I’m talking about is the start of his career playing for the Canberra Raiders.

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The young Milford was everything a footy fan could want. Exciting, creative, very elusive, very fast and just a pure natural talent.

That isn’t to say Milford isn’t a good footballer these days by any means, but his game is a little different to his raw younger days as his career and body has evolved.

Do yourself a favour and check out his Canberra highlights below. I have a particular soft spot for him because of a try he scored one day against Manly at Brookvale which won me a head-to-head SuperCoach final in the dying minutes.

It was spectacular and can be seen in the first minute of the highlights package. Just imagine riding him home for this four pointer with your season on the line. Milf!

Another match in particular I remember vividly was a on a sunny afternoon up at the Gold Coast.

Milford put on an absolute masterclass. It was insane. The match included some Dave Taylor magic, a Shaun Fensom four pointer, but above all it was a perfect example of Anthony Milford at his absolute best and for mine an example of how much better he could be these days with the right fitness program and playing a more free role for Brisbane.

But that’s another discussion. There is more than one factor to this.

Milford’s tally that afternoon included two tries, two try-assists, six tackle busts, four offloads, one line break and a ridiculous six line break assists.

My favourite part of his play is the quality of his ball playing, but also his ability to stay alive and back up after creating the opportunity.

There are other games for Canberra where his ball running has been even more deadly, but it was this match that I enjoyed his overall game coming together. Long live Canberra Tony Milford.

Stat	Tally	Points
Try	2	34
Try-assist	2	24
Linebreak	1	10
Linebreak assist	6	48
Offloads	4	16
Tackle break	6	12
Tackles	1	1
Runs	14 (8 over 8m, 6 under 8m)	22
Total		167 points