Early years Milford began playing his junior rugby league for the Souths Juniors in
Acacia Ridge. During his teenage years, he attended
Forest Lake State High School and
St Peter Claver College in
Ipswich, and was selected for the Queensland and Australian Under-15 Schoolboys in 2009. While at the school he represented the Under-15 Queensland and Australian Schoolboys' sides in 2009. Milford graduated from their rugby league program in 2011. In 2012, Milford represented Queensland Under-18s, playing halfback in their 24–18 win over New South Wales. Milford joined the
Canberra Raiders in 2012, leading their
SG Ball side to the Grand Final, which they lost 42–20 to the
Balmain Tigers. Later that year, at just 17 years old, Milford debuted for the Raiders
Under-20s team. Milford played 14 games, scoring 13 tries and helped the Raiders make the Grand Final, in which they lost to the
Wests Tigers 46–6. In September 2012, Milford was set to be named in the
Junior Kiwis side to face the Junior Kangaroos, before he officially pledged his allegiance to his birth country of Australia. In November 2012, he was rewarded with a new contract at the
Canberra Raiders, keeping him in Canberra until the end of 2014. In December 2012, Milford was named in Queensland's 2013 Junior Emerging Origin Squad. Milford played 20 games, scored 20 tries, kicked 64 goals and 1 field goal for 209 points in his U20s career from 2012 to 2013. in 2013
Canberra Raiders (2013–2014) 2013 In 2013, Milford trained with Canberra's NRL squad in the pre-season, despite still having two years left of NYC eligibility. In Round 5, Milford made his NRL debut for the
Canberra Raiders against the
Sydney Roosters, playing off the interchange bench in Canberra's 24–22 comeback win at
Canberra Stadium. In Round 10 against the
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Milford scored his first and second NRL career tries in Canberra's 30–20 loss at
Remondis Stadium. Milford was named captain and of
Queensland Under-20s State of Origin team, scoring a try in the 36–12 loss to the
New South Wales Under-20s at
Penrith Stadium. On 31 August, Milford and
Canberra Raiders teammate
Josh Papalii were fined by the club for an alleged drinking incident two days before Canberra's 50–16 loss to the
New Zealand Warriors. Milford finished his
debut season in the NRL being named the Raiders Rookie of the Year with him playing in 18 matches and scoring nine tries. Milford was a nominee for the Rookie of the Year. Milford played for
Samoa national rugby league team in the
2013 Rugby League World Cup, playing in all of their four matches, scoring one try and kicking nine goals. Milford made his Samoan international debut against
New Zealand at kicking 2 goals in Samoa's 42–24 loss at
Halliwell Jones Stadium. Milford scored his first international try against
France in Samoa's 22–6 win. Following the World Cup, On 27 November 2013, Milford signed a two-year contract (worth $900,000) with the
Brisbane Broncos for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, due to family reasons.
2014 Early in the
2014 NRL season, Milford was being pursued by the
Canberra Raiders. Coach
Ricky Stuart was keen to keep him in the Nation's Capital; however, Milford decided to stick with the contract he signed in 2013 to join the
Brisbane Broncos. In May, Milford was named for the
Queensland Under-20s squad to play against the
New South Wales under-20s, Milford played at
five-eighth in QLD's 30–8 loss at
Penrith Stadium. In June, Milford was named in the QLD Maroons 22-man squad for Game 2 to be selected for the final interchange bench spot but New Zealand Warriors Forward
Jacob Lillyman ended up being selected for the final spot over Milford. Milford finished the 2014 NRL season with him playing 23 matches, scoring 12 tries, kicking three goals and kicking two field goals in his last year with Canberra. On 9 September 2014, Milford was selected in the
Australia Kangaroos 2014 Four Nations train-on squad, but later didn't make the final 24-man squad. On 12 October 2014, Milford played at
five-eighth for
Prime Minister's XIII against
Papua New Guinea, scoring a try in the 34–16 win at
Kokopo.
Brisbane Broncos (2015–2021) 2015 and
Chanel Harris-Tavita celebrating 2021 RLWC semi-final victory over England consoling Milford after losing the
2021 RLWC Final against Australia in 2022 On 21 January 2015, Milford was named in Brisbane's 2015 Auckland Nines squad. In Round 1 of the
2015 NRL season, Milford made his club debut for Brisbane at
five-eighth against the
South Sydney Rabbitohs in Brisbane's 36–6 loss at
Suncorp Stadium. In Round 5 against the
Gold Coast Titans, Milford scored his first and second club tries for Brisbane in the 26–16 win at
Robina Stadium. On 4 October 2015, Milford played in the Broncos
2015 NRL Grand Final against the
North Queensland Cowboys, playing at five-eighth in the heartbreaking 17–16 golden-point extra-time loss. He finished off the
2015 season having played in all Brisbane's 27 matches, scoring 13 tries, kicking 3 goals and kicking 3 field goals.
2016 On 12 January, Milford was selected in the
QAS Emerging Maroons squad. On 4 February 2016, Milford, along with eight other members of the Queensland Emerging squad were banned from Queensland State of Origin selection for 12 months after breaking team curfew. In Round 4 against the
North Queensland Cowboys, in the Grand Final rematch, Milford kicked a field goal from 40 metres out to win the match for Brisbane 21–20 in golden point extra time, a redemption victory for Brisbane after the previous year's heartbreaking 2015 Grand Final extra-time loss. In Round 7 against the
Newcastle Knights, Milford scored his first career hat-trick in a masterful performance in Brisbane's 53–0 flogging win at
Suncorp Stadium. On 20 September 2016, Milford was added to the
Australia Kangaroos 2016 Four Nations train-on squad but later missed out on making the final 24-man squad. On 28 September 2016, Milford won the
Peter Frilingos Headline Moment of the Year award at the
Dally M Awards, his match winning field goal in golden point extra time in Round 4 in the Grand Final rematch against the
North Queensland Cowboys. Milford finished his solid
2016 NRL season with him playing in all of the Broncos 26 matches, scoring 14 tries, kicking eight goals and kicking four field goals.
2017 In February, Milford was selected in Brisbane's
2017 NRL Auckland Nines squad. In Round 8, Milford was instrumental in the controversial 25–24 win over the
South Sydney Rabbitohs, with a controversial try assist and a dubious 25-metre field goal. After the match,
Tony Archer admitted the referees should have called held when Milford failed to ground the ball. On 5 May 2017, Milford extended his contract with the Broncos to the end of the 2021, with him set to be the first million-dollar Brisbane player after the
Melbourne Storm were keen to lure him away from Brisbane. On 6 May 2017, Milford played for Samoa in the test against
England, starting at five-eighth, scoring a try and kicking one goal in the 30–10 loss at
Campbelltown Stadium. Due to main Queensland playmaker
Johnathan Thurston sidelined with injury, Milford beat the likes of
Michael Morgan,
Daly Cherry-Evans and
Cameron Munster to the vacant halves spot for Game 1 of the
2017 State of Origin series. On 31 May 2017, Milford his
State of Origin debut for
Queensland at five-eighth, showing some dazzling footwork and strong defence before taken off the field in the 53rd minute due to a concussion in the 28–4 loss at
Suncorp Stadium against
New South Wales. In Round 14 against the
South Sydney Rabbitohs, Milford a suffered a shoulder injury during Brisbane's 24–18 win at
Suncorp Stadium, and was expected to be sidelined for six weeks but returned early in Round 19 against the
Newcastle Knights, scoring a try in the 34–22 win at
Hunter Stadium. Milford finished the
2017 NRL season with him playing in 23 matches, scoring 7 tries and kicking 21 goals for Brisbane. Milford who was in frame for either
Australia or Samoa missed the
2017 Rugby League World Cup due to his shoulder injury.
2018 In Game 1 of the
2018 State of Origin series, Milford was a late inclusion on the interchange bench after the retiring seasoned fullback
Billy Slater was ruled out through injury and
Michael Morgan filled in his vacant spot in the Maroons 22–12 loss at
Melbourne Cricket Ground. On 23 June 2018, Milford played for Samoa against
Tonga in the 2018 Polynesian Cup, playing at fullback and co-captaining the team alongside
Joseph Leilua in the 38–22 loss at
Campbelltown Stadium. Milford finished the
2018 NRL season having played 25 matches, scoring 6 tries and kicking 1 field goal for Brisbane. On 6 October 2018, Milford was awarded the Paul Morgan Medal as the Broncos Player of the Year.
2019 For the first 14 rounds of the
2019 NRL season, Milford started at five-eighth. In round 15, he swapped positions with
Darius Boyd and moved to fullback in Brisbane's game against the
Newcastle Knights. Milford made 24 appearances for Brisbane in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Milford played in the club's elimination final against Parramatta which Brisbane lost 58–0 at the new
Western Sydney Stadium.
2020 Milford played 13 games for Brisbane in the
2020 NRL season as the club suffered their worst ever year both on and off the field culminating in the club's first
wooden spoon.
2021 On 1 July, Milford was informed by Brisbane that his contract would not be renewed at the end of the
2021 NRL season. This followed after numerous poor performances by Milford in the previous couple of years including the 2021 NRL season where he was demoted from the Brisbane side on a few occasions. On 30 July 2021, Milford signed a one-year deal to join
South Sydney starting in 2022. However, on 19 September 2021, Milford was arrested following an alleged assault in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. He was charged with three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm one count of wilful damage. Consequently, the NRL refused in November 2021 to register Milford's South Sydney Rabbitohs contract due to criminal proceedings involving two assault charges of violence against women.
Newcastle Knights (2022) Due to legal issues, Milford's contract with South Sydney fell through. In April, after his legal matters were finalised, the
Newcastle Knights attempted to register a contract with Milford. The NRL granted a conditional registration to train with the Newcastle outfit while he completes educational and rehabilitative programs, but he would not be permitted to play before round 11, providing four weeks for the relevant programs and assessment to be completed. In Milford's 200th NRL game, he was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul during Newcastle's 42–12 loss against
Manly Warringah in Round 18. On 18 July, the Newcastle club announced Milford would be moving on at the conclusion of the
2022 NRL season to return to Queensland, signing a two-year deal with the
Dolphins. In October 2022, Milford was named in the
Samoa squad for the
2021 Rugby League World Cup. In the opening match of the
2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC), Milford was sent to the sin bin for an illegal shoulder charge on England's
Sam Tomkins. Samoa went on to lose the match 60–6. Milford was later suspended for one game over the incident. Milford also played for Samoa in their 2021 RLWC final loss against Australia.
Dolphins (2023–24) In round 4 of the
2023 NRL season, Milford made his club debut for the
Dolphins against the
Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium. In round 13, Milford scored his first try for the Dolphins in their 26–12 victory over the St. George Illawarra Dragons at
Kayo Stadium. In total, Milford played eleven games and scored three tries for the Dolphins in 2023. On 24 December 2024, it was announced that Milford had been released from the Dolphins after his contract was not extended and he signed with
Souths Logan Magpies the feeder team for the Brisbane Broncos. == Statistics ==