Brisbane five-eighth Anthony Milford is poised to sign a multi-million dollar four-year contract extension with the NRL powerhouse in the coming days.
Broncos CEO Paul White says the club expect a decision from the highly sought after playmaker early next week, after the 22-year-old reportedly shunned interest from Melbourne to accepted a $4 million deal.
The Storm are desperate for a marquee half to replace departing No.7 Cooper Cronk and offered Milford a deal worth a reported $1.2 million a year.
Milford’s Broncos deal is sweetened by the capacity for third party deals and the club’s dominance of the Brisbane sporting market.
Months after halfback Ben Hunt announced he will play for St George Illawarra next year, it was feared Brisbane would lose a second playmaker when the Storm made a play for Milford.
However, White all but confirmed that Milford, who will play for Samoa in Saturday’s Pacific Test against England, has agreed to stay at Red Hill.
“We’re not in a position to declare that yet,” White said on Friday.
“Anthony will get through his game on the weekend and hopefully we’ll be in a position to make an announcement or know one way or another early next week.”
White said the Broncos were not surprised by the interest in Milford’s services but were always confident of retaining him.
“These things are never easy processes and particularly when they’re marquee players,” White said.
“We acknowledge there’s a real developing market out there for those sorts of players and Anthony fits that bill.
“We’ve worked really hard through this negotiation process to make sure that Anthony remains at our club and we’re happy with the work we’ve done and we’re happy with the progress.
“We’re looking forward to him re-signing with our club.”
Milford’s expected re-commitment will allow the club to turn their focus on retaining other off-contract stars, including skipper Darius Boyd, Alex Glenn, Jordan Kahu and James Roberts.