At the end of September 2007 Michael Monaghan was celebrating the success of Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season. After finishing second in the NRL, they made their way to the Grand Final for the first time in a decade. Unfortunately they were comprehensively beaten on the day, with Melbourne victorious after a 34-8 win at the Telstra Stadium.

For Monaghan that would be his last appearance for the club, having signed a four-year contract with Warrington in June. It wasn’t a decision he took lightly, but the opportunity for a fresh start in England, as well as moving back into his preferred half-back role, meant it was ultimately too good an offer to turn down:

“When Matt Orford (Sea Eagles’ captain and half-back) was injured for five weeks, I had a run of games at half-back and played fairly well. I told Manly after that that I wanted to play there again and they gave me permission to speak to both NRL and Super League sides.

“The timing of that was early in the NRL season so the Super League was my main opportunity, so I spoke to Warrington and ending up here. I was pretty confident that they were a good club who were on the up, and I was keen to move here.”

Read the full interview with Michael Monaghan in Issue 3 of Code13 Magazine