Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett has leapt to the defence of five-eighth Anthony Milford, telling media that the 22-year-old is one of the hardest workers at the club.
The comments come after reports in some media that there were concerns around Red Hill with the way Milford trains.
In a stinging assessment of Milford's work ethic, it was reported that Brisbane's Benji Marshall was 'horrified' at Milford's attitude towards training.
A veteran of 256 NRL games, Marshall arrived at the Broncos in the off-season to bolster the club's outside backs and provide leadership to the likes of Milford.
It would be a shock for Marshall to speak out against his teammate and Bennett has rubbished those claims, confronting Marshall to get to the bottom of what was really said.
"I've confronted the player that allegedly made the comment and he never made the comment in question," Bennett said.
"I needed to go up to him and make sure the comment hadn't been made. If it had been then we would have dealt with it. The journalist made it up."
One of the competition's best young halves, Milford has made a steady start to the season.
The Broncos' 1-2 record is reflective of this, but if Milford begins to perform at his full potential then Brisbane will improve with him.
Bennett said Milford is doing everything in his power to better his performances, with that including putting in the extra yards at training.
"Anthony's got a great work ethic here. We don't have a problem with anything he does. He doesn't have issues with training," he said.
"The media sees how well he trains when they come down here. He's not taking shortcuts and he never shies away from anything he's meant to be doing."
Bennett's findings from his confrontation with Marshall confirm what was reported earlier this week on NRL.com when the 32-year-old exclusively revealed how impressed he was with Milford's efforts on the training paddock.
It takes a lot to impress Marshall after so long in the game, but Milford has found a way by putting in the hard yards.
"I've got no problems with the way he trains, I thought he had a pretty big pre-season. He didn't take any shortcuts that's for sure," Marshall said.
"I was pretty impressed with how much he trained in the pre-season and he's kept that up."
Marshall made his Broncos debut in their two-point loss to the Melbourne Storm in Round 3, and he is a chance to again feature this week after being named as 18th man for his side's clash with the Canberra Raiders on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
