Penrith’s decision to recruit James Maloney has transformed them into premiership heavyweights
WHERE James Maloney goes, success follows. Penrith are no different, with Maloney helping the club establish themselves as premiership heavyweights says MATTHEW JOHNS.
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JAMES Maloney, he’s doing it again!
Goes to a new club and they improve dramatically.
It’s a season where new signings are having a huge impact.
Kalyn Ponga is the competition’s most dangerous attacking footballer, James Graham’s leadership has the Dragons top of the table, while Blake Green’s know-how is guiding the Warriors towards the finals.
But for mine, the decision by Penrith to recruit James Maloney to their young squad is proving the most astute purchase.
On top of everything Maloney brings, his mentoring of young half Nathan Cleary alone, is worth every penny being placed in his pocket.
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I bumped into Cleary through the week and after congratulating him on his Origin debut, I asked him about what James Maloney has given him and the young Panthers.
Nathan said some of the things Maloney has brought to Penrith were difficult to explain.
He said Maloney brings a confident demeanour. In pressure situations, there’s a calmness about him which gives the young players confidence.
Cleary said the young players want to impress Maloney, a sure sign of the respect the veteran commands in the dressing room.
These are all reasons why Phil Gould was so desperate to sign Maloney from the Sharks.
Young players need strong experienced leaders and they need mentors.
But Gould also signed Maloney for his strong tactical nous. Cleary said it’s like having a coach out on the field. Maloney allows Cleary to control the team and James does what he does best and that is to prowl the field, reacting to visual opportunity.
Nathan told me Maloney wasn’t a huge talker on the field, just a word here and there in the young halfback’s ear, a tip for what to look for in the next attacking set of six, or what the team needs to do next.
The old experienced head, guiding the young buck on the run and then allowing him to take the reins.
Nathan told me when James walked into Penrith training, he wasted no time in giving his thoughts on how he believed the team should play.
Maloney urged the Panthers to ramp up their defensive energy and adopt a more outside-in style, rather than sitting back and sliding in defence.
It’s certainly made a difference, last year the Panthers defended like they were waiting to get the football back, in 2018 they looked to be enjoying the damage their fast moving defence can cause.
The other thing which Maloney is teaching Cleary, is the ability to let things go.
For playmakers, mistakes are all part of the job. A half can’t lose confidence or go into his shell after an error, he needs to be able to learn from it, then forget about it.
Some of the games greatest playmakers were almost without conscience when it came down to making mistakes. I saw Cliffy Lyons one night in Newcastle, throw balls over the
sideline for a half of football, and then come out in the second half and win the game with his playmaking wizardry.
Which brings me to that Maloney intercept pass in Origin last Wednesday night, which saw Valentine Holmes run the length of the field and, for a period, turn the momentum of the contest completely.
I asked Nathan about what Maloney had to say to the team as they gathered behind the posts.
Nathan told me he was jogging back, thinking how devastated Maloney was going to be.
He felt sorry for the experienced playmaker.
Did he apologise?
No, he did not.
Maloney got back behind the sticks and started lecturing the Blues on what they needed to do next. To quote Cleary, “Matty, it was like he’d totally forgotten he’d thrown the pass.”
Nathan, he probably had. Great lesson!
For Cleary it’s surreal, playing alongside a man who his father coached at the New Zealand Warriors, when Nathan was just a wee lad.
And there’s no doubt, like every person who’s ever coached Maloney, Ivan would have been driven mad by Jimmy’s famous desire to pester his coaches into submission.
So I asked Nathan, “What did your dad say when he heard the news that Jimmy had signed at Penrith?”
“He laughed and said good luck!”