James Maloney’s form for Penrith makes an Origin recall all but inevitable

WHEN Nathan Cleary went down back in round three, most of us thought Penrith’s hopes would go with him but instead James Maloney has proved he’s still got what it takes to be a top class playmaker.

Penrith's James Maloney celebrates after he set up a try for Penrith's Josh Mansour during the Parramatta Eels v Penrith Panthers rugby league match at ANZ Stadium, Homebush. Picture: Brett Costello

WHEN Nathan Cleary went down back in round three, most of us thought Penrith’s hopes would go with him.

Then up stepped James Maloney.

First up, he took the Panthers to Townsville.

And against Johnathan Thurston’s Cowboys came home man of the match.

Then at ANZ Stadium, in a performance coach Anthony Griffin labelled the best defensive effort he’d seen “in a long while”, Maloney was again a standout.

Now, let’s face it, Maloney’s been known for many things over the years.

Being tough defensively isn’t necessarily one of them.

But in a team effort that was all about defence and grit, the 31-year-old was absolutely inspirational.

Maloney has been in great touch since Cleary went down.

On one occasion he whacked giant Tony Williams with enough to force for T-Rex to drop the ball.

Then in the 53rd minute, when the scores were 10-6 and Parramatta had all the ball, Maloney came up with another ripper effort.

Michael Jennings was on the fly down the right edge when he kicked ahead and his little brother George was leading the chase.

But Maloney, 10 years into his NRL career, was not going to be out-enthused on this one.

A finger tip was all that was in it.

“I thought his chase to knock that ball dead today, that was the highlight for me,” Anthony Griffin reasoned, in his typical no nonsense way.

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“It was just a real gutsy, team effort from him.”

Maloney added: “I thought I had the winger covered and then out of the corner of my eye (he spotted Michael Jennings).

“I said after, ‘Did you chase your own kick?’ ‘Cause I thought I seen him and I sort of panicked a little bit because I know he is quick.”

But that’s the thing about Maloney.

You know he just doesn’t panic.

With Cleary out, Maloney admits it’s made it easier to adapt his game to suit the Panthers.

Brad Fittler always says he likes to be the dominant half.

Maloney has played some of his best footy in years.

Which made it interesting spotting Maloney on the sideline talking to Fittler after the game.

When Cleary went down, we not only thought it was bad news for the Panthers, but equally bad for the Blues.

Now all we need is for him to stay fit for the next seven rounds and Fittler will have the first part of the halves conundrum fixed.

“You want to be picked,” Maloney said.

“I hope I am there, there is no doubt about that.

“I want to be there.

“I think I can play the good footy that can get me there.

“But for me it is controlling this side at the moment, making sure I am doing what I need to do here.

“That all comes off the back of that.

“I start building my year with the Panthers and as we go on my footy will get better because of the blokes around me and what we are doing.”