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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 2659161, member: 1899"] It's a real leap of faith. I'm not expert on the Raiders and sure didn't take many notes on them these past few years but one thing I've noticed is that they've got a knack of developing players into 'good' NRL players but rarely anything beyond that. In a sense, it's very similar to our crop in 2012. Remember how many commentators predicted the Broncos were in for bigger and better things with the likes of Hoffman, Glenn, McCullough, Beale etc? Same deal, same type of players. I honestly can't recall a moment that made me think Milford was a great playmaker but how much of an opportunity did he have to succeed? The Raiders haven't had the best track record in recent years of developing good play-makers, the last decent pairing they had was Josh McCrone & Sam Williams and they produced what? A couple good months of form? If that and it wasn't like their play was that magnificent. In fact for so long it seemed like the Raiders had a similar gameplan to us which is kick it out-wide and hope for the best. They were never really in a position to ply their trade and develop as ball-players or anything of the like and it just brings me back to something Gus said. I remember when Michael Jennings had just made his debut, Gus was lamenting about how Jennings could be one of the best centres of all-time if he was at a club like Brisbane's but since he's at Penrith, who were struggling, he may never reach his potential. It really stuck to me, because Jennings is still a good talent but he's right, to this day, Michael still has these plays in him that would have been rubbed out if he was coached by a Bellamy, Maguire or Cleary. I hope it's not too late for Bennett. In a sense, I get the feeling that Milford's move to fullback was nothing more than a bandaid solution for Dugan's departure. A move that worked for a team that was desperate in the short-term but wasn't looking long-term and why should they? Milford's departure derailed their season in 2013 and turned 2014 into a total non-event for them. In that environment, how was Milford ever going to develop as a playmaker? Especially under the tutelage of Ricky Stuart who has how many great halves developed under him in the NRL? Milford's move to the six is a big call and it's defined our season, I'm glad people feel strongly both ways. Personally, I'm willing to take a leap of faith and back Anthony as a 6. If it doesn't work out, so be it, but I'm not adversed based on two seasons where the Raiders were on the road to nowhere. [/QUOTE]

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