How his father inspired James Maloney to NRL stardom

JAMES Maloney explains the inspiration, the heartbeat, for which everything else about his game is merely back-up vocals

James Maloney

JAMES Maloney stammers.

Surprised, your eyes dart up from that quickly filling notepad because, for what must be 20 minutes now, there has been no pauses, no silences, not one hackneyed cliche.

No, instead, with that voice stolen straight from A Country Practice, this Roosters playmaker has waltzed, as in so many TV appearances this year, between bush wit and playmaking smartarse.

Like Smokey Dawson should he ever work the Las Vegas strip with three cups and a pea.

Yet still there has to be more, right? Knowing that while gags about "barbecuing alone" might fill 15 minutes on The Footy Show, it's hardly enough to survive the brutality of NRL footy. Or earn yourself a NSW Origin debut.

Willie Mason may be the king of wisecracks but they're not enough to define him. Nor tattoos Todd Carney.

Which is exactly why, only seconds ago, The Daily Telegraph, had finally decided to approach the one constant that had time and again appeared in his conversation - the old man.

Which is when Maloney pauses. Stammers. Suddenly ... lingering ... on ... every ... word ... to ... hold ... off ... the ... tears.

"Aaaah, geez," he says after fighting through a series of short grunts and pauses. "My old man . ... none of this happens without him".

And with that, the Roosters five-eighth apologises, regathers himself, then takes you on a trip up the F3 to Sohier Park, Ourimbah - one of those quintessential country footy grounds all beer tent, hessian fence and grandstand running at a ridiculously odd angle to the field.

Recalling that afternoon when, barely out of school and thrown into first grade with the Ourimbah Magpies, Maloney missed a tackle that now has him on the cusp of NSW Origin selection.

"It was after I'd put this grubber kick into the ingoal," the playmaker recalls, "I chased it through but missed the tackle, let the guy get back into the field of play.

"Afterwards, dad and I were talking, and he said 'you know, had you made that tackle, it changes the entire game'. The old man explained to me how in a game of footy, there are certain plays - and no one knows when they're coming - that will define it.

"He said it's why you need to put yourself into position for every play."

And just like that, you have it. Maloney explaining through reddened eyes the inspiration, the heartbeat, for which everything else about his game is merely back-up vocals.

Brian Maloney, see, died in 2009; less than a year after doctors found the body of this rugged bush carpenter riddled with asbestos.

Originally a bush footy star with Orange and Queanbeyan, back when such tags carried weight, there would rarely be a decision young Jimmy made before it were ticked off with dad. And then, overnight, he was gone.

"But his words, they still come to me when we're deep in games," the 26-year-old continues. "They push me to where I need to be, to make sure I'm in position for that play.

"Dad was also big on the fact that, when you're tired, your mind gives in long before your body will. He was always telling me that, if you want something on the field, your body will get you there, you just need to let it.

"At the toughest times in games, that's what drives me."

And as for everything else? Well, thankfully, be it dodging Bikram yoga, discussing the Blues No.6 or even explaining why he's another star the Eels let go, Maloney powers through it all.

"Parramatta?" he shrugs. "Basically, I did my ankle and was supposed to miss a dozen weeks. Instead I stuffed around, missed the entire season.

"Went from the NRL squad to Wentworthville."

And as for his current rise and rise? Well, Maloney credits the Roosters, their playing style and his children, Kade (3) and Layla (14 months), because "from the moment they're born you realise there's no more plodding through life".

And what of coach Trent Robinson's recent revelations that his star five-eighth is now firing following the discovery of vegetables?

"An exaggeration based partly on fact," Maloney laughs.

"At the start of the year, our dietician put us all onto this detox diet where you only eat raw foods.

"So that's the joke, it's more the fact I know to eat them raw."

So loveable larrikin Maloney is following a detox diet?

"Ah, shit no," he grins. "But with good reason. I think you'll find there's been plenty of blokes succeed in the NRL eating vegies that are steamed."