Milford already humming in return to five-eighth: Seibold

Anthony Milford's return to five-eighth is already looking the goods at Broncos training with coach Anthony Seibold confident the talismanic playmaker will thrive alongside organising halves that suit his natural game.

NRL.com has watched a sleek and silky Milford closely at Broncos training in his return to the five-eighth position and he appears to be relishing the role. The elusive running game and instinctive flair is all on show as he fine-tunes his combination with halves Brodie Croft and Tom Dearden. Former Storm half Croft is favoured to be Milford's partner in round one but 18-year-old Dearden will keep the pressure on after impressing in his five first grade games for Brisbane in 2019.

Milford and Croft are yet to play together but the only place they can work on their partnership at this stage is on the training paddock. Milford had three halves partners last year – Kodi Nikorima, Dearden and Sean O'Sullivan – before playing the last half of the season at fullback.

After a challenging year Seibold has given Milford clarity around his role and is confident the cohesion the 25-year-old will build with Croft and Dearden will only pay dividends when the season kicks off.

"It was a challenging year for Milf. We had a number of halves partners for him and tried something different by putting him at fullback," Seibold told NRL.com after Brisbane training on Thursday.

"One of the reasons why I wanted him to back in the number six jersey is that we've got genuine organisers there in Brodie Croft and Tom Dearden. Both those young guys can get a team around the park. Milf played his best games last year in my opinion against the Roosters, Warriors and Manly when Tommy Dearden was his halfback partner, and Tommy is an organiser.

"It will take pressure off Milf when he doesn't have to get us around the park. I think he is happy to be happy back in the six and just playing his natural game which is eyes up and if he sees something, taking it. We play principle based footy, not structured. I want Milly to free up. He's got himself in good shape and is enjoying the footy part of the pre-season."

Seibold went hard to recruit Croft because he knew he was the right player and person to give Brisbane the direction they lacked at stages last year. The 22-year-old has only been at Red Hill for six weeks but his influence has already been a positive one.

"It will take time for Brodie to gel into the group but so far what I thought I was getting is exactly what I've got. He is a hard worker, a good communicator and a good kid," Seibold said.

Brisbane's pre-season has been intense under a sweltering summer sun but a feature of it so far has been the cohesion and flow of the training manoeuvres, no doubt due to the fact that Seibold has had a full pre-season with no disruptions to work with his players.

With Jamayne Isaako at fullback, hookers Jake Turpin, Andrew McCullough and Cory Paix all sharing time at dummy half and rampaging young forwards Payne Haas, Tom Flegler, Patrick Carrigan and David Fifita hardened by their first full seasons in the NRL the early signs are very promising for Brisbane.

"I think continuity and cohesion are keys for us going forward,” Seibold said.

"We had a lot of instability in our squad last year and in our key position areas. I am really happy with how Brodie, Milf and Tom Dearden in the halves are gelling and getting better. They are building up some good combinations with our back-rowers and other players in the spine. We are a work in progress but there is certainly a lot more stability in what we are trying to do.

"The whole group has had almost 13 months with me now. The players know each other better. I know them better and they know me better. We have just got a lot more stability in our group but we have a long way to go to get to where we want to be."