Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett has recently stressed the need for his young stars to earn big-game experience, and thanks to five-eighth Anthony Milford's form – after admitting to have played the "toughest game" of his life against the Roosters last weekend – the Broncos thrived in their 47-12 win over South Sydney.
In a man-of-the-match performance against the Rabbitohs where he scored twice, ran for a game-high 249 metres and made three line breaks and six tackle busts, Milford's confidence went up another gear as the Broncos temporarily returned to the top of the NRL Telstra Premiership.
It proved one of the many positives Brisbane gathered out of their 12-10 top-of-the-table loss to the Roosters – who are widely regarded as premiership favourites – and showed Bennett's men won't be pushovers once finals football rolls around.
"I think last week against the Roosters showed that it was by far the toughest games I've ever played. Especially the speed of it, it was very breathtaking to be a part of it," Milford said.
"From that, my main focus out there was to enjoy my footy and follow off the boys. I think I did that the best I could. But it means nothing if I don't back it up again next week. That's the consistency levels I want to get in my game."
"It helps that I'm pushing up and playing what I see and trying to back my own ability. I think I've finally earned confidence within to pull off the plays and help out wherever I can. It's another step towards next week and it's pretty exciting."
One of the integral parts of Milford's form and much of Brisbane's success this year has been the 21-year-old's partnership with halfback Ben Hunt.
Hunt, who scored his first ever NRL hat-trick against the Rabbitohs, has helped boost Milford's form this season, and the Souths Acacia Ridge junior hopes he is doing the same for Hunt.
"It's very pleasing to see my other half get a few tries. Our combination has been there, we just need to keep working hard and onwards to next week and throughout the finals series," Milford said.
"It's been a learning curve for me and I think we just need to keep building and keep working on it at training where we can. We definitely need to start involving Darius [Boyd] around there – he's a big help for us as we definitely head in the right direction.
"The camaraderie between all the boys is spot on and it's good environment to be a part of especially for Benny and I."
Milford was buoyed by the fact everyone in the team achieved what they set out to do in the Broncos' 35-point thrashing of the Rabbitohs.
"That's what I like to see, everyone doing their job. There were a lot of inspirational moments there from the boys," Milford said.
"For me, especially being one of the younger ones I think we young guys like to see older boys stand up and they did that out there. We then were able to feed off them which was really good."
