Moon's move to halves is paying off for Leeds '“ McGuire

LEEDS RHINOS captain Danny McGuire admits Joel Moon's surprise switch from centre to half-back is one that is reaping dividends for both player and club.
Leeds Rhinos' Joel Moon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).Leeds Rhinos' Joel Moon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).
Leeds Rhinos' Joel Moon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).

The Australian has played there for the last two games, first helping Brian McDermott’s side beat Wakefield Trinity and then, on Friday, contributing to a 28-12 success at Huddersfield Giants.

Selected ahead of specialist halves Rob Burrow and Liam Sutcliffe, Moon has played left centre for the majority of his time at Headingley since joining from Salford Red Devils at the end of 2012.

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However, scrum-half McGuire believes the 28-year-old’s natural football talent lends itself to a more creative role and Moon did, in fact, feature there in his favoured position for both Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors before moving to the UK.

Leeds Rhinos' Joel Moon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).Leeds Rhinos' Joel Moon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).
Leeds Rhinos' Joel Moon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).

“Sometimes you’ve just got to let Moony go play and not really tie him down too much,” he said.

“You have to let him go enjoy himself. We’ve got a good combination going and it is going well.

“Then obviously he moved out to the centre when Rob came on at Huddersfield. Rob was busy and everyone’s working hard for each other which is really important and all you can ask for.

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“We’ve got a couple of people coming back which always helps.

Leeds Rhinos' Joel Moon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).Leeds Rhinos' Joel Moon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).
Leeds Rhinos' Joel Moon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).

“Mac’s got a bit of a selection dilemma there now and a bit of competition for places as well with hopefully Stevie (Ward), Keith (Galloway) and [banned] Brad Singleton to come back in soon.”

Leeds host champions Wigan Warriors on Friday seeking a fourth successive win.

They have clearly sorted themselves out since a record-breaking 66-10 defeat at Castleford Tigers at the start of the month,

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McGuire, 34, added: “We were pleased to go and get win at Huddersfield as it’s not been a happy hunting ground recently.

“We’ve had a lot of scrapes and scraps over the years there.

“The second half was a little disappointing for both teams; I thought it got a bit sloppy and a bit messy.

“But we did some real good stuff in the first half and defensively again I thought we were good; they didn’t score in the second period so that was pleasing.

“We’re heading in the right direction.

“There’s still loads to work on and improve but getting better every week.

That’s pleasing and now we move on to Wigan which is always a physically intense game.”