Furner: Raiders won’t release Milford 
CANBERRA slammed the door in the face of the Broncos on Friday, declaring rookie sensation Anthony Milford will not be granted a release from his Raiders contract and is no chance of playing for Brisbane in 2014.
The Raiders, fed up with clubs trying to poach their young talent, have put their foot down - asking the NRL to get involved in the Milford matter to ensure the young fullback sees out his contract with Canberra.
Speaking exclusively to The Courier-Mail, Raiders CEO Don Furner also revealed he had been in touch with Broncos, warning them to keep their hands off their contracted player.
Furner also took a subtle swipe at Brisbane’s poor on-field form, saying while the Raiders were fully focused on this year’s semi-finals, "other clubs" had time on their hands to cherry pick the rosters of NRL rivals.
Rumours linking Milford to the Broncos have been circulating for weeks on the back of a "compassionate clause" built into his Raiders contract that would make him a free agent in the event of a family illness.
Milford’s father, Halo, is in poor health after a recent heart attack.
But Furner said on Friday night the clause had to be mutually agreed to by the player and the club, and the Raiders will be standing firm.
"We won’t be letting Anthony go," he said.
"Despite the protestations of other parties, we will not be releasing him.
"We are obviously sympathetic to the situation with Anthony’s father but we know we can help him manage it by continuing the support he has in Canberra.
"Anthony is very much in our long-term plans. We are keen to start talking about a new deal, but his manager has told us that he wants to put it off until the end of the season.
"But he has a contract with us for next year, and he will be playing with Canberra."
Brisbane has never made an official move on Milford because he is under contract, but indicated they would be interested in the Queensland under-20 captain if his family situation dictated a move back to Queensland.
Furner said he approached the NRL to look into the matter — worried rumours linking Milford to the Broncos were becoming too hot.
Asked whether he was upset at the Broncos over the matter, Furner was measured in his response.
"All I would say is that I am disappointed that this has been turned into an issue. It is obviously not a matter that was started from us," he said.
"Anthony has a contract with us for next year, he is happy here, and through no fault of ours we have had our club dragged into this continual speculation, which is both destabilising and damaging to our club.
"It is one of the unfortunate sides of the business we are in.
"We are still very much focused on making the semis. Unfortunately, some other sides aren’t.
"What can happen sometimes is that the clubs that aren’t making the semis have more time on their hands to sit back and cast an eye over the rosters of other clubs.
"While you are busy competing for the semis, other clubs are sitting back working out which players they need to be more successful.
"It is a very destabilising situation, it is very undermining and it is a very unfortunate part of our game. We don’t do that. It is disappointing that others do.
"Rumours have been strong up there (in Brisbane) for two months (about a Milford deal being done with the Broncos). But the people I have spoken to (at the Broncos) have denied anything is going on.
"I have got the NRL involved. I have sent documentation to them. They are aware of the situation. We just wanted to make clear what our position was, what the situation was with the contract, and the fact that we aim to keep him.
"It would be silly for anyone to be offering him money for 2014.
"We have brought it up with the Broncos as well. We have told them we won’t be letting him go."
Asked what was said in his phone call to Brisbane’s Paul White, Furner said: "The conversation is private and confidential. I won’t be discussing that."
Furner said the speculation swirling around Milford had not distracted the 20-year-old.
"Anthony has been great through all of this. He is positive, and upbeat," he said.
"He is still playing very well, and this hasn’t detracted from his performances at all.
"He is a good young kid, and he has a group of good people down here that he surrounds himself with so it hasn’t affected him at all.
"His situation is not unique. A lot of young kids that move to a different city for football do get homesick. It is just a fact of life.
"I am sure if you asked guys like Mal Meninga or Gary Belcher, they would tell you exactly the same thing.
"But we are experienced at dealing with it, and we have systems in place at the Raiders to help those players to deal with it. Our welfare and junior development guys are very adept at dealing with these things.
"All clubs battle it. We are not alone here. But we do a very god job in dealing with it."
Source: http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/nrl-premiership/canberra-ceo-don-furner-says-the-raiders-wont-release-boom-youngster-anthony-milford/story-fn2mcuj6-1226694395049?from=public_rss#.UgW1ktIwfxC
Topic: Raiders slam the door in the face of Broncos
