Monaghans defence is actually known to be a weak point for every other SL side. Yes it looks good, but just watch next time, because he goes low, how many times the opposition stand upright and offload the ball in the tackle especially in his own 20mt area when this type of tackle invariably leads to the opposition scoring.

As for the intercetion try, it is also well know that he can't pass from left to right hence why he gives away so many tries attacking Warringtons right hand side. Cas, Quins, and Leeds have all benefitted from this same mistake from Monaghan.

He may not be the worst player Warrington have ever had but he certainly is the worst No7.

I'm not, but the ten minute spell he put in at acting half-back was sparkling and probably the best I've seen in that position all season.



Eye opening to say the least.

if briers is out and monas goes to hooker



who is at 6 and who is at 7 ?

Trouble is he can't, he has to step, step and then alter his body shape to throw out a pass to his right. The passes are coming gift-wrapped and addressed for the opposition and they know it. How many times has it happened?



Pops the myth of the superior Aussie core skills doesn't it?



On the other hand his short passing game around the ruck is very good indeed.

Think you are wrong about his defence. For me he is the best pound for pound defender we have. Ok he might go low, but at least he stops the man rather than Briers who goes high & flaps @ them!

That's harsh from a person who doesn't watch him week in week out.



Personally I think you are talking complete tosh about his tackling. I see your point about the low tackle but any 'SL side' should know that a good tackle technique allows the first man in to go low and second to take the arms. No 7s are not the biggest/strongest on the pitch so to take a man round the arms on your own 20 is probably worse the big guys will carry you over. Watch his technique again - he takes the legs at pace so often sends people crashing to the ground before the second marker has even arrived. Reminds me of Allan Bateman. Besides anywhere else on the pitch his tackle works just fine - often saving the day.

Monaghan playing direct up and down the pitch is a sensational (and I don't use that term lightly) player. As soon as he starts to play across the pitch and spread the ball about he's a liability.

I don't think it's quite that simple though. During that spell the whole team perked up, which isn't unusual after Smith's team talk.



He did do well during that spell, but his play soon went back to being pretty average for the remainder of the game. I hope he gets his chance and let's see what he can do, but I'm not convinced we will see that 15 minute spell from him in future games where he is playing hooker.



The other thing for people to consider is who will play 7.



I think the positional changes worked yesterday, in that it was a tactical change that needed to be done and was done with a kick up the backside too, but starting the game, we have seen that Bridge is better at 3, and Grix was poor at 6. I think yesterday was an all out big effort, and he had runners charging into space, which wasn;t happening for the rest of the game.

Whilst that is true of many players who go low, and indeed is the main reason many players don;t go low, Monas actually does this very well in that he doesn't try and wrestle them or push them back. He is happy for them to go down as quickly as possible, and he does that by attacking their legs. This way they don't have chance to offload.



The only time he goes for the leg drive tackle is when he has supporting defenders with him.

You never seen Rocket Rodwell did you..

I'm not trying to be controversial but was Rodwell really that bad, or was it that the team stunk at the time?

Both.