Warrington Wolves head of coaching and rugby Tony Smith explores his options at dummy half (From Warrington Guardian)

Warrington Wolves head of coaching and rugby Tony Smith explores his options at dummy half

11:47am Monday 6th July 2009

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WOLVES head of coaching and rugby Tony Smith praised the impact of dummy-half duo Michael Monaghan and Jon Clarke following his side’s 22-6 win at Celtic Crusaders.

Since losing interchange hooker Mickey Higham to injury four weeks ago, Smith has experimented with a number of options at acting half back.

Clarke has remained a constant, starting each of the four games since a torn bicep ruled Higham out for three months, but the combinations at dummy half have continually changed.

Responsibilities were shared with Monaghan during the 21-10 defeat against Bradford, the Australian taking over from Clarke during the second half after starting the game on the bench.

During the historic 24-12 win over Catalans in Barcelona, it was Vinnie Anderson who played spells at dummy half to help take the pressure off Clarke, while Monaghan was kept as playmaking half back until injury forced him off the field.

But Wolves brought back the same combination that had been used against Bradford in last week’s 24-12 victory against Hull, only for it to change again during Saturday’s win at Celtic.

This time Monaghan, listed on the teamsheet at scrum half, started the game at dummy half, while Clarke was used as the main pivot, given the creative licence to orchestrate Wolves’ attack.

The absence of key playmaker Lee Briers has also had a major influence on the positional changes.

With the long-serving half back sidelined by a hamstring problem throughout the last three games, Simon Grix has been used at stand off to great effect.

Warrington have proved they can win without Briers, ending a run of nine straight defeats in games when he has not played to string together three consecutive victories without him.

Grix has played a major role in that run but, as a primarily running half back, his presence at stand off necessitates a strong creative influence inside him and Smith is pleased with the way Monaghan and Clarke have combined.

He said: “We did some switch-hitting today and we did it last week as well, where each one can go there and play a bit of dummy half.

“I thought it worked pretty well. I thought Monas was very good in that position and he had a really strong game.”

He added: “People told us that we couldn’t win games without Lee Briers but we’re doing okay lately, although it will be nice to have him back too.

“I think it’s Lee who spreads those rumours that we can’t win without him!”

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