Canberra Raiders in $1 million a year bid to stop Anthony Milford joining Brisbane Broncos
CANBERRA are set to make a staggering $1 million a season bid to prevent rising teenage superstar Anthony Milford joining the Brisbane Broncos.
The deal will skyrocket the talented Milford into the game’s top earning bracket, putting him alongside the likes of Cameron Smith, Greg Inglis and Johnathan Thurston.
The deal is being put together as a last-minute pitch to keep him at the club.
Many insiders already believe Milford has signed with Brisbane for 2015 and is still a strong possibility of linking with the club next season.
However, incoming Raiders coach Ricky Stuart understands Milford’s importance to the club’s future and hatched the audacious plan to keep him.
"If the Broncos want to play these games I just hope they are offering the same money that we have got for him," Stuart said.
"Hopefully he’ll go on the cap for the same amount of money we’re offering him."
The offer will make Milford, 19, the first $1 million a season player in the Raiders’ history.
He was the Raiders’ player of the year in his rookie season and is desperately trying to get out of the final season of his Canberra deal to join the Broncos next year.
He and manager Sam Ayoub have put off negotiations until Milford returns from the Rugby League World Cup, where he is playing for Samoa.
Yet Stuart has refused to give up on him, confirming the Raiders are preparing to table the massive offer to take the rising star through to the end of the 2017 season.
Yet there is a problem. So far Milford has declined any approaches from the club to extend his contract.
The Broncos have tabled a $600,000 a year offer, including a massive deal if he is able to get out of next season’s Canberra contract and join early.
If Milford leaves, it will be another devastating blow for a club that has lost, in recent seasons and for a variety of reasons, the likes of Todd Carney, Josh Dugan, Blake Ferguson and Joel Monaghan.
"I’m sick of seeing our kids developed and taught how to play the game in Canberra and then poached by people who can’t develop," Stuart said.
What affect the deal has on Milford’s plans remains to be seen.
On Monday, News Limited reported that Milford had told his cousin Francis Molo, a Broncos under-20s player, that he would be joining Brisbane next season.
Milford is seeking a release on compassionate grounds, with his father Halo sick.
He has a get out clause in his contract allowing him to leave the club because of his father’s illness.
However, Canberra chief executive Don Furner has engaged the NRL in the hope Milford will remain at the Raiders next season.
"We have already sent details to the NRL and we hope they will back us in the contract," Furner said. "We just want to make sure that it is a valid contract for 2014."
Source: http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/canberra-raiders-in-1-million-a-year-bid-to-stop-anthony-milford-joining-brisbane-broncos/story-fndv2wef-1226749178058
Topic: Raiders set to make MASSIVE play to keep Milford
