JOEL Monaghan praised the role Warrington Wolves teammate Chris Bridge has played in helping him reach his record number of tries for the club this season.

The Australian winger has crossed 35 times in all competitions so far this year, already his most in a season in primrose and blue.

But Monaghan admits as soon as he arrived he knew playing alongside Bridge would see him touching down on a regular basis.

“I’ve had nearly four seasons here, scored over 100 tries and probably about 80 of them are on the end of Chris Bridge,” said the 32-year-old.

“He’s a special talent and I knew that from the first year I played with him. I remember ringing my dad back home and just telling him ‘mate, it’s going to be pretty easy outside Bridgey’.

“I’m pretty happy with how the year’s gone. We’ve got some quality outside backs at the club.”

The former Canberra Raiders man has spent time at centre this season and enjoyed the increased involvement the role brought.

“I’ve played centre a bit this year which I’ve enjoyed and found a bit of consistency,” he added. “I think the team found a bit of that as well.

“Bridgey would play halves and I would get to play centre, we’ve got some good young wingers at the club as well. I had about 10 or 12 weeks there and was getting a bit more involved.

“But playing on the wing outside some of these players, I’m quite happy to play anywhere.”

Monaghan’s foray at centre coincided with Wolves’ 10-game winning run this summer, but he credits the form of Bridge during that spell.

“He was probably the biggest part of the resurgence on that run we went on. The coach moved him into the halves and from there we were a totally different team,” explained the Australian international.

“I think we built confidence around that and personally I think he’s had his best year. He’s had a bit of a run with injuries, which is unfortunate, but even with that I think he’s been one of our best.”

Topping the Super League try-scoring charts, Monaghan arguably deserved a Dream Team spot. However, he is happy just to have been touted with the honour.

“Obviously it’s an honour to be picked in teams like that,” he added. “But at that time of year when you’re training for the last game and we could finish second or fifth, and now we’ve got the play-offs to worry about, it doesn’t really come into your mind.

“A few people have told me they think I should have been in. But when you look at the team, the players that were picked are pretty special players and they deserve everything they’ve got – it’s good just to be mentioned.”

And Saturday’s co-captain is now focused on a tough trip to the Mend-A-Hose Jungle tonight, Thursday.

“It’s a tough challenge, they’re a different team at home and on the back of a big loss they’re going to be tough to beat,” he said.

“It’s different (the stadium), it’s like a semi-final so you should be able to play anywhere, but you’ve got to adjust to differences that it throws at you.

“We’re going to have to be better than we were last week if we want to keep going in this competition, but the boys are looking forward to it and we can’t wait to get out and play.”