WOLVES head coach Tony Smith is wary of the threat posed by former captain Joel Monaghan ahead of Saturday’s Magic Weekend clash with Castleford.

The Australian winger will go down in history as one of Wire’s greatest modern-generation players after he scored 145 tries in as many games for the club since joining from Canberra Raiders ahead of the 2011 season, winning a League Leader’s Shield, a Challenge Cup and appearing in two Grand Finals in the process.

He left the Halliwell Jones Stadium at the end of last season and subsequently signed for Castleford and looks set to line up against Wolves in Newcastle.

Smith says he is looking forward to seeing the 34-year-old but highlighted the danger he still possesses.

“Joel’s always been part of our history here and we’re very grateful for his contributions while he was here so I look forward to seeing him,” he said.

“We don’t want him to do some of what we all know he’s capable of, particularly in the try-scoring, but I really look forward to catching up with him after the game.”

The game forms part of the tenth staging of Magic Weekend, which will be held at St James’ Park for the second year in a row after last year’s record weekend crowd of 67,788.

The latest projections are for this year’s attendance to exceed that figure and Smith is all for showcasing the game to new audiences.

“It was good to have it in Manchester for a couple of years so it gave all the people along the M62 a chance to go but it’s nice to take it somewhere outside of our general area,” he said.

“It’s always good to take the game away from the heartlands, we can take it somewhere different and sell our game to people new to our sport.

“I’d prefer it if it wasn’t an extra fixture in terms of adding a round but I certainly like the idea of taking it out of our normal point of sale if you like.”