Bradford Bulls' Steve Menzies on the difficulties of opposing Warrington Wolves' Michael Monaghan (From This Is Cheshire)

Bradford Bulls' Steve Menzies on the difficulties of opposing Warrington Wolves' Michael Monaghan

1:30pm Friday 12th March 2010 in

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MICHAEL Monagahan has been a revelation for Warrington Wolves since switching to hooker.

It’s not that the Australian was bad at scrum half, but his talents have been more influential in the number nine position.

So much so that he won the Lance Todd Trophy in the role as the man of the match in the Challenge Cup Final defeat of Huddersfield Giants at Wembley last August.

His speed, vision and know-how from dummy half have a massive part to play in keeping his team on the front foot, while he shirks nothing in defence.

But if any team has inside knowledge of how best to counter Monaghan’s explosive play, then it is Saturday night’s opponents Bradford Bulls with their array of former Manly stars.

Monaghan first switched to hooker with NRL club Manly after spending all his career in the half backs.

Ironically that switch came when Matt Orford arrived from Melbourne Storm to take the number seven shirt – the same Matt Orford, of course, who will be leading Bradford’s fight at The Halliwell Jones.

One of the attractions for Monaghan joining Warrington Wolves in 2008 was the opportunity to revert to scrum half.

But performances did not always live up to his own and supporters’ expectations, something which cannot be said about the time he has spent at hooker since injuries to Jon Clarke and Mickey Higham promoted the move on a more ‘permanent’ basis last year.

It is also a massive bonus to Warrington that he can switch between half back and hooking roles as and when required, with Monaghan starting at scrum half in the victory over Crusaders last weekend.

With Richie Myler due to return to the halves this weekend – after missing out with a toe injury against Crusaders – Monaghan is expected to be back at number nine against Bulls.

Former Australia Test back rower Steve Menzies, an NRL legend with 13 years at Manly under his belt, is in his second season with Bulls and knows all about the difficulties his teammates can expect when they come face-to-face with the ‘Monas Magic’ tommorrow.

“ I think hooker is his position,” said 36-year-old Menzies.

“I played at Manly with him for a few years and he played half back before they switched him to hooker.

“It took him a little bit of time to adjust but I really do think that’s where he’s best.

“He’s got a really good kicking game out of there, he’s smart, knows when to run, knows when to go to the line and he can ball-play as well.

“I think Warrington play off the back of him really well.

“Off a quick play-the-ball he’s either snaking out of that A or B defender and the boys are pushing through, reacting to where he’s going.

“When he’s taking off towards the line, there’s at least one on either side and sometimes a couple on either side going with him.

“That’s tough to defend when your line isn’t set and you’re still going backwards. “That’s definitely where they’re going to try and break you.

The way he plays - he goes to the line a lot and he likes to run it - off a quick play-the-ball, the defence is still going backwards and he really does that well.

“Other players probably play better when the line’s set but I don’t think he has a set play in his mind.

“He’ll just pick up and go and whatever he sees in front of him, he’ll play.

“He’s an instinct player rather than relying on set moves.

“He plays best off the cuff and that’s why hooker suits him better than half back.”

Menzies is also wary of the dangers fellow countrymen Matt King and Chris Hicks present to Bradford.

He was an international colleague of King and a clubmate of Hicks at Manly, last playing together with winger Hicks in the 2007 Grand Final defeat opposite King’s Melbourne.

“They’re both quality and they can really finish a movement,” said Menzies.

“If they need to beat one or two to get to the line, they’re pretty good at doing it so we’re going to have to really scramble as well as we can and make sure we’ve got three there if they can only beat two!”