Milford dodges cap investigators

Brisbane’s two-year deal to recruit Anthony Milford is under scrutiny with the fullback reportedly missing a meeting with NRL salary cap investigators.

The Canberra star’s deal to join the Broncos is sure to be scrutinised with the NRL investigating claims Brisbane have cheated the salary cap by $450,000 over the past three years.

Several Broncos players, including star recruits Ben Barba and Martin Kennedy, have spoken to investigators in the past fortnight.

Triple M in Brisbane reported Milford skipped a meeting with investigators this week on the advice of agent Sam Ayoub, who told him not to attend without legal representation.

AAP is seeking comment from Ayoub.

There’s no suggestion of any illegalities in Milford’s deal, although if the investigation does uncover any issues the 20-year-old’s move north could be in jeopardy.

Broncos coach Anthony Griffin said interviews with players wasn’t news as far as the club was concerned and were just the normal procedure in any salary cap investigation.

“Obviously they’ve got to interview people,” Griffin said.

“Those interviews took place over a week ago. It’s not news to us … we’ve got a game of footy tomorrow night. That’s the news we’re looking forward to.”

Barba and Kennedy defected to Brisbane from Canterbury and the Sydney Roosters respectively, on multimillion-dollar deals with negotiations including the prospect of third-party deals on top of their base salaries.

The NRL’s inquiry was launched in late May and is believed to centre around the Broncos possibly guaranteeing third-party payments.

A News Corp report claimed a potential smoking gun is a $400,000 loan from the Leagues Club, a separate entity to the publicly listed NRL business, to former football manager Andrew Gee.

Internal records show the money was repaid shortly before Gee resigned in April.

It’s understood the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has been contacted to assist inquiries into the Leagues Club and could have the power to interview Gee because he once served as a board member.

The task of proving any of the Leagues Club loan was used to guarantee unfulfilled third-party deals has become difficult with Gee reportedly refuse to cooperate with integrity unit investigators.

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