Sacked Raider Josh Dugan copped a torrent of abuse from Raiders supporters when he was sinbinned late in St George Illawarra's comeback win in Canberra in round three.

But while Dugan and fellow dumper Raider Blake Ferguson had their contracts torn up for off-field indiscretions, Milford returned home to Brisbane this year to be closer to his sick father.

The loss of Milford was a major blow for Canberra, who tried desperately to convince the 20-year-old to renege on his Broncos deal before the round-13 deadline.

His manager, Sam Ayoub, has previously said publicly that Milford came extremely close to staying at Canberra, and told Raiders coach Ricky Stuart that.

Milford won the Mal Meninga medal as Canberra's player of the year in 2013 and Ikin said he doesn't deserve the frosty reception afforded to Dugan.

"I doubt [he'll be booed], when you hear him doing interviews after games he's just so quiet and polite, it'd be like booing Santa Claus," Ikin said.

"I think he'll be OK and he'll be excited about coming home. He'll be playing against his old mates, it's a big occasion for him.

"It seems to me he loves playing footy and wants to play well every game. He wouldn't just save his best footy for his old club."

Brisbane Broncos legend Allan Langer has helped Milford in his transition from fullback to five-eighth this year, and hopes Raiders fans have moved on.

"I hope they give him a good reception because he did a lot of good things for Canberra as well," Langer said.

"I hope they don't treat him with bad respect, I suppose. It happens wherever you go in sport. When you change clubs there's always some people who aren't happy, but that's life.

"Playing against his old side I'm sure he'll want to lift and have a great game."

Milford was criticised heavily after starting the season slowly in the No. 6 jersey as he battled to adjust to the greater responsibility and pressure of steering one of the NRL's biggest clubs around.

He delivered arguably his best performance in a Broncos jersey in Monday's win at Newcastle, when the Broncos were without their State of Origin players.

The Broncos have decided to rest Queensland stars Sam Thaiday and Justin Hodges for Saturday's match.

"I just think his running game has got better. I thought he was a bit tentative early and his combination with [halfback] Ben Hunt, he's getting confidence in his game," Langer said.

"[Against Newcastle] you could just see the sharpness in him in running the ball. I'm sure he would have got a lot of belief out of that game."

Ikin said Broncos coach Wayne Bennett deserves credit for not panicking and giving Milford time to find his feet in the halves.

Bennett resisted the temptation to move him back to fullback despite mounting outside pressure, and is now reaping the rewards.

"Wayne's an expert at guiding players through that [external pressure], that's one of his real strengths," Ikin said.

"He would have said to Anthony you've got to just listen to me and his advice is usually very simple, that takes a bit of the heat off.

"He hasn't moved on Milford being five-eighth, he knew what Darius [Boyd] would bring for the halves when he came back at fullback.

"He was always extremely confident Anthony Milford would make a great No. 6, and who am I to second-guess him?"

The loss of Milford has been offset at Canberra by the strong form of Wests Tigers recruit Blake Austin at five-eighth and Jack Wighton's successful shift to fullback.

Austin's battle with Milford, two of the more unpredictable players in the NRL, will be a highlight as Canberra looks to avoid a third straight loss, and square its season ledger at 6-6.

"Every five-eighth has to play to a plan and they're no different, but they're not restrained by structure," Ikin said.

"Some guys feel intimidated playing outside the plan, these two guys don't.

"Blake's been confident since he arrived there and Anthony's taken a while to feel comfortable, but at the moment his confidence is where it needs to be."