Warrington Wolves team of the decade 2010-19, hooker vote

As we get closer and closer to the big reveal in our Christmas edition, the backs line-up is now complete and we now continue to put the pack together.

This week, the focus is on the dummy-half position and the unenviable task of choosing between four players who served The Wire with absolute distinction between 2010 and the present day.

Sadly, there is space for only one in our team, but who will it be?

Here are your options…

JON CLARKE:

Another in our series of polls who is perhaps best remembered for his work prior to this decade, but could we really leave him out?

Rated by many as the greatest hooker to ever pull on a primrose and blue jersey, Clarke’s physicality and infectious competitive spirit meant he was adored on the terraces.

While 2010 saw him at the back end of his career with Warrington, he still managed to lift the Challenge Cup for a second time – his start at Wembley was one of only seven he made that year.

The following year saw him help The Wire to a dominant League Leaders’ Shield but towards the end of that year, he announced he was bringing the curtain down on a decade-long career with the club.

Clarke made 263 appearances overall for Wolves, scoring 62 tries and kicking two goals for good measure, before he left for neighbours Widnes Vikings.

That would not be the last Warrington fans saw of him, however – he joined the club’s coaching staff on the strength and conditioning side in 2015 and remained until taking up a similar role with the England rugby union team last year.

Jon Clarke lifts the Challenge Cup in 2010. Picture by Mike Boden

MICHAEL MONAGHAN:

An incredibly classy operator, Monaghan excelled in both the half-back and hooking roles during his time with The Wire.

He entered this decade a Lance Todd Trophy winner after picking up the award during the glorious 2009 Challenge Cup Final win and helped them retain the trophy, albeit from scrum-half.

However, we feel it was at number nine where he played his best rugby in a Wire shirt.

Working off the base made for them by a dominant forward pack, Monaghan and Micky Higham combined to lay waste to Super League defences regularly.

His six years at the club under Tony Smith were some of the club’s most successful, and the Australian was at the very heart of it.

Overall, he made 192 appearances in the primrose and blue shirt, scoring 35 tries and kicking four drop goals.

Monaghan retired from playing after leaving The Wire in 2014 but remained in Super League, taking up assistant coaching roles at Catalans Dragons and Wakefield Trinity.

He returned to his homeland in 2018 and is currently part of the coaching staff at Manly Sea Eagles.

Michael Monaghan in action. Picture by Mike Boden

MICKY HIGHAM:

It is easy to remember Higham’s departure from The Wire and all the bluster it seemed to cause.

However, before he left for hometown club Leigh midway through the 2015 campaign, the contribution he made to the Warrington cause cannot be ignored.

In tandem with Michael Monaghan, he helped tear teams apart down the middle in a trophy-laden spell with the club.

He left with three Challenge Cup winners’ medals and a League Leaders’ Shield but like all others, a Grand Final ring eluded him.

He had two cracks at it in 2012 and 2013 but came up on the losing side on both occasions.

Before the Centurions parted with £50,000 to prise him away from The Halliwell Jones Stadium, Higham made 175 appearances for The Wire, scoring 37 tries.

Micky Higham. Picture by Mike Boden

DARYL CLARK:

When Clark arrived at The Halliwell Jones Stadium, he did so under a tonne of pressure.

He was the reigning Super League Man of Steel after a stunning breakout year with Castleford Tigers and had a £185,000 transfer fee hanging round his neck.

That pressure perhaps showed in his first year or two, but now we are really seeing how good the Yorkshireman can be.

He is now a more rounded player than the dummy-half rocket that caught our eye in 2014 – his defence has improved to no-end for a start – and The Wire will continue to see the benefits for years to come.

His Lance Todd Trophy-winning display at Wembley in August was undoubtedly the crowning glory of his Wire spell so far, but is the best yet to come?

Clark will enter 2020 with a record standing at 33 tries in 154 appearances – a record that will only get better and better.

Daryl Clark celebrates a try against Leeds earlier this year. Picture by Mike Boden

THIS POLL IS NOW CLOSED - THANK YOU FOR YOUR VOTES