Brodie Croft has been challenged to reinvent his game after the Brisbane recruit was leapfrogged by up-and-coming halfback Tom Dearden to play St George Illawarra on Friday.
The Broncos had hoped the game manager’s arrival would solve their halves dilemma this season, but like his side, the Melbourne Storm product has struggled in what is tracking as the proud club’s worst season.
With Milford set to return at five-eighth from a hamstring injury, Dearden has kept his place and forced Croft to reassess where he fits in at Red Hill.
“They’re very similar sort of players (Croft and Dearden) and our attack hasn’t been flowing while the two of them have been there (with Milford injured),” stand-in coach Peter Gentle said.
“Milly does combine better with Tommy, so I know that’s where the decision (to drop Croft) came from.”
Asked how Croft could win back his spot, Gentle hinted the playmaker needed to change his game to fit alongside Dearden’s.
“It’s learning to play that second fiddle role … letting Tommy have that call and run the team and him being able to take his opportunities off the back of that,” he said.
“That’s difficult because that’s his role also.”
It is one of the bigger selection calls of a horrid season, which has Brisbane (15th, 3-11) tracking for their worst differential and will see them finish with less than 10 wins for the first time.
They have also scored just 12 points and conceded 154 in the last 20 minutes of games this season, with Canberra scoring five unanswered second-half tries to run them down last weekend.
The side – still without head coach Anthony Seibold who isn’t on deck until next Tuesday after he left the NRL’s bubble for a family matter – mixed up training this week in an effort to fix their fadeouts.
“The whole week we focused on two things; firstly an 80-minute performance, and second thing is our defence,” Gentle said.
“We’ve worked hard on that all week and hope to see it tomorrow night.”
Payne Haas (suspended), Tom Flegler (shoulder) and Jake Turpin (hand) are all missing for Brisbane, with Isaac Luke at hooker and Jordan Kahu set to play his first game for the Broncos since rejoining them from North Queensland.
The Dragons (11th, 5-9) will be led by interim coach Dean Young and will rush key prop Paul Vaughan back after his COVID-19 breach.
STATS THAT MATTER
* The Broncos are on track to record their worst points differential, already at -251, well above their -115 record set last season.
* The Broncos have lost eight games this season by 18 or more points, already more than their previous high of six in 2009 and 2010.
* St George Illawarra will aim for back-to-back away wins for the first time since rounds 3-4 last season.