His best may still be a few seasons away but Wayne Bennett is satisfied with under-fire Brisbane five-eighth Anthony Milford's progress after a week to forget.
A week after Milford was accused of being a lazy trainer, the Broncos playmaker will hope to make headlines for all the right reasons in Thursday night's ANZ Stadium clash with Canterbury - his 100th NRL game.
Milford appeared distracted throughout last round's 13-12 victory over Canberra and stepped back to let winger Jordan Kahu take the match-winning field goal.
Bennett even bemoaned after the thriller how long it had taken them to find a clutch player like surprise hero Kahu.
However, Bennett said he had no complaints with the 22-year-old Milford ahead of his milestone match.
"It's a wonderful achievement," Bennett said of Milford's 100 games.
"He's pretty unique, the amount of talent he has got.
"He needs to maximise that talent.
"(But) he is a couple of years off being from his best."
Bennett denied his criticism over the time taken to find a clutch player was aimed at Milford, who duffed two field-goal attempts in their round two golden point loss to North Queensland.
"It wasn't aimed at Milford. It was aimed at the team - it was about nailing those little moments," Bennett said.
"It shouldn't have been 12-all (against Canberra) - they know that, I know that.
"It (criticism) was born out of the last three weeks trying to win close games.
"But you can't get confidence by losing, you get it by winning - we needed that win."
Bennett was forced to confront Benji Marshall last week after a report emerged the veteran was alarmed by Milford's training worth ethic.
Marshall denied the claim, prompting Bennett to launch a scathing attack on the media.
After a difficult week, Milford was not available to the media ahead of his milestone game.
Asked why Milford didn't speak, Bennett said: "If you want to say 'well done' (for his 100th) go and grab him, I am not stopping you".
Meanwhile, Bennett played down a calf injury to Adam Blair despite the prop being forced to leave training early on Wednesday.
The Kiwi international suffered the injury last round.
"We are pretty confident he will play," Bennett said.
"We are not taking an 18th man at this stage."
