While the scoreboards suggest a dominant season for Daniel Milford’s Macarthur Wests Tigers, he measures his success in the outstanding young men coming off the pitch.
When speaking with the Laurie Daley Cup side’s Head Coach, he insisted that there’s more to his squad than their historic 66-6 win over the weekend, which was the biggest victory since the competition’s inception in 2018.
“For me, success is about building positive young men who can contribute to our community,” Milford said.
“The vessel for that just happens to be rugby league.”
Milford has a vision for a finals-winning season, but he says it is built on a foundation of strong community and consistent standards.
He has brought his side’s families into the ‘inner sanctum’ of the team.
“Since round one, I’ve invited parents, kids and siblings back into the sheds to sing the team song,” Milford said.
“It’s all about tying family into what we’re doing here.”
The initiative has paid dividends, with success extending beyond their on-field results.
As for the standards, whether it was the start of the season or now heading into finals, Milford is all for consistency for his side, irrespective of results.
“The standards remain the same, the effort areas remain the same, the routine around training all remains the same.”
“If we start changing who we are because of the opposition, we change the fabric of what’s brought us success. It’d be silly to change something that’s not broken.”
It’s an approach he hopes to maintain through the coming weeks.
Milford’s been incredibly proud of his entire squad holistically, and that includes their on-field performances.
He has been particularly impressed by his side’s halves, Kai O’Brien and Brock Achurch, and their team-first mentality.
“They’ve prioritised the team and set up plays for their teammates.”
The pair have been instrumental in steering the side around the park, contributing to the side’s 102 points in their last two outings.
“For them to lead this team week in, week out and enjoy the success they’ve had, I’m really proud.”
He also has big praise for his side’s captains, Ashton Chan-Sau and Keynan Pes.
“Ashton is the epitome of hard work and resilience,” Milford said.
He spoke about how he is always ready to lead and has stepped up both on and off the field since taking on the responsibility.
Keynan’s impact is evident, having crossed the try line in each of the team’s wins this season.
Through the middle, Daniel Lafolafo, Kye Penfold and Harry Bickhoff have laid a solid platform for their team to work from.
“We won the middle convincingly,” talking about last weekend’s match.
“They’ve been tough, strong and physical. A big part of our go forward.”
While Milford’s vision is to create positive young men who contribute to their community, he’s honest about his desired hope for the team to take it all out this season.
“It’s always been about redirecting the focus back to the end goal.”
