MICHAEL Monaghan admits it was hard to hide a smile as he watched brother Joel cross for a hat-trick on Saturday.

Fittingly, the Catalans assistant coach was present as the Warrington skipper made his last home appearance for the club.

“It was hard up in the stands," said Michael. "I wanted to have a little smile on my face but when you’re coaching the opposition it's hard so I tried to stay stone faced.

"But I was pretty happy for him to get the hat-trick and he played well, especially in his last game here.”

The former Wire skipper added: “By Joel's own admission it hasn’t been his best season and it hasn’t been the club's best season either.

“Going to a new club will probably be best for him and maybe he’ll enjoy his footy a little bit more because it looks like he hasn’t enjoyed it as much this year.

“A change is as good as a holiday, so hopefully when he gets it sorted where he’s going to be and where he’s going to play he can look forward to that and find some of that form he had here.

“He’s been a big part of the club and the success we’ve had and it’s good to see him going out playing well.

“It’s like any club, it’s probably more off the field they’ll miss him – while he’s been excellent on the field his presence off the field is something, if you speak to most of the boys, they’ll comment on."

The older sibling was not ready to inflate his brother's ego too much.

“I wouldn’t say he ran fast, " said Michael on Joel's intercept try. "He had a fair start and managed to get there in the end – to be honest when he took it I thought he was going to get caught!"

Alongside Monaghan's hat-trick Wolves witnessed the try-scoring potential of one of their Academy graduates, Jack Johnson.

“It was a really good feeling in front of the fans," said the 19-year-old full back after his try double.

“We were all buzzing with the send off for all the lads as well.

“With it being Joel, Roy and Richie’s last games for the club we wanted to give them a big send off and especially for the fans, it’s not been the best year but hopefully we’ll build on that for next year and come back stronger."

Johnson, who began his junior career at Saddleworth Rangers after a stint in union, hopes to continue his rise next season.

“I’ll take it game by game now," said the Manchester-based teenager.

"Hopefully I'll have a big off season and come back better and ready to go again, get a few more games and go from there.”