Joel Monaghan (born 22 April 1982) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who last played for the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

. An Australian international and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

State of Origin representative or er, he previously played in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

and the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

Background

Joel Monaghan was born in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Monaghan's junior development was influenced by

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

coach

Neil Henry Neil Henry (born 23 January 1961) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He was formerly the head coach for the Canberra Raiders, North Queensland Cowboys and Gold Coast Titans of the National Rugby League ...

who was Monaghan's coach at Erindale College, Canberra. While attending Erindale College, Monoghan played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 2000. He is the younger brother of fellow rugby league player

Michael Monaghan Michael Monaghan (born 13 May 1980) is the current assistant coach at the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League and an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Canberra Raiders and Manly-Warringah Sea ...

Playing career

National Rugby League

Monaghan made his NRL début in 2001 for Canberra against the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

in round 10 and spent four seasons with the club. He debuted for the

in round 2005, against the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

. He missed much of the 2006 season after injuring his knee in a trail match against the

St George Dragons The St. George Dragons are an Australian rugby league, rugby league football club from the St George, Sydney, St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales competition ...

then suffering later hamstring injuries during the year. He had a successful 2007 season at the Roosters scoring 13 tries in 17 games. In 2008, Monaghan returned to the Canberra Raiders for the 2008 season. He won the

Mal Meninga Medal The Mal Meninga Medal is the name of the award that goes to the Canberra Raiders' Player of the Year. The award was named after former Raiders captain and coach, Mal Meninga and was first awarded in 2008. Before this there was no name for the award ...

for the club's ''Player of the Year''. In August 2008, Monaghan was named in the preliminary 46-man Kangaroos squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest ...

, and in October 2008 he was selected in the final 24-man

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

squad. He made his test début on the for Australia's opening game of the RLWC against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

at the

Sydney Football Stadium Sydney Football Stadium may refer to: * Sydney Football Stadium (1988), the original stadium which was demolished in 2019. * Sydney Football Stadium (2022) Sydney Football Stadium, currently known as Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons, i ...

on Sunday, 26 October 2008. In the final, he made the mistake of tackling

Lance Hohaia Lance Koro Hohaia (born 1 April 1983), also known by the nickname of "The Huntly Hurricane", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative utility back, he played in the NRL for the Ne ...

who was without the ball, which resulted in a penalty try, changing a two-point deficit to an 8-point deficit with only 10 minutes left. After the end of the 2010 season, Monaghan was released from his contract with the Raiders at his request. His decision to leave the Raiders came after a photograph of him simulating a lewd act with a dog during Mad Monday celebrations was published on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. The photograph was noted and discussed by media outlets around the world."Monaghan dog picture scandal goes global"
Glenn Cullen, ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', 5 November 2010

Super League

On 3 December 2010 it was announced that English

club

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

had signed Monaghan on a one-year contract. There he joined his brother

. Monaghan was selected for the

Exiles Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

squad for the Rugby League International Origin Match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

on 10 June 2011. Monaghan was selected for the 2011

squad by coach Brian McLennan however he was not selected to play. Monaghan was selected for the 2012 Exiles to face

by new coach Daniel Anderson, he started on the in Game 1. He played in the 2012 Challenge Cup Final victory over the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. He played in the

2012 Super League Grand Final The 2012 Super League Grand Final was the 15th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XVII season. The match was held on Saturday 6 October 2012, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by ...

defeat by the

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. Monaghan was selected to play for the

on the in the

2013 Super League Grand final The 2013 Super League Grand Final was the 16th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League XVIII. The game was held on Saturday 5 October 2013, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Wigan Warri ...

and scored the opening try in their loss against the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

. He was the regular season's top try-scorer in 2014. Castleford Tigers confirmed Monaghan's signing in October 2015. He joined the club on a two-year deal, seemingly in anticipation of Justin Carney's departure. Across his two seasons with the Tigers, Monaghan made 34 appearances and scored 13 tries.

References

External links

Statistics at nrl.comProfile at raiders.com.auStatistics at rugby-league.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monaghan, Joel 1982 births Living people Albury Thunder players Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Canberra Raiders players Castleford Tigers players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Exiles rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players People educated at Erindale College Prime Minister's XIII players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Canberra Rugby league wingers Sydney Roosters players Warrington Wolves players 21st-century Australian sportsmen