Joel Monaghan has vowed to take a leading role in the Canberra Raiders' clash with South Sydney on Monday night, as he continues to reel from his State of Origin snubbing.
Monaghan was a shock omission from the NSW side to play in OriginI on Wednesday, losing his spot on the wing to Newcastle's James McManus.
The 27-year-old has now lost his place in both the Australian and NSW sides in the past month, despite being the Raiders' most consistent performer this season.
Monaghan admitted he was devastated he wouldn't be playing alongside Raiders teammate Terry Campese on Wednesday, but said he had shifted his focus to ensuring the Raiders kept their season on track with a win over the Rabbitohs.
''I had some disappointment this week, so I want to go out there and lead from the front,'' Monaghan said. ''It's been a pretty rough couple of weeks, but it's out of my control, so the only thing I can do is go out there and play footy.
''It was very disappointing. I thought I'd done enough to get a spot. Footy doesn't work out like that all the time. I kept to myself for a couple of days, but there's no point sulking about it now, we've got a big game on Monday night so I'm fully focussed on that.''
Monaghan admitted he needed to step up in the absence of Campese, using his experience to complement Canberra's untried halves pairing of Marc Herbert and Josh McCrone.
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