Rat cunning at heart of James Maloney’s resilience

James Maloney says five sentences, four of them are from the heart. The other? He’s off his head.

James Maloney has a laugh at Panthers training.

James Maloney is sitting inside ANZ Stadium. He’s wearing a ridiculous blue wig. His words are ­insightful and passionate and they’re being delivered with rat-a-tat-tat enthusiasm, but there’s a comical edge to the discussion. The wig suits him.

The daft bugger is gulping beer like Krusty the Clown on the cusp of a bender and while nothing of the sort is on the cards in his post-Origin blow, it remains difficult to tell the serious footballer from the circus act. If he says five sentences, four of them are from the heart. The other? He’s off his head.

Maloney is Penrith’s most important player in tonight’s NRL elimination final against Cronulla. And the most surprising. He’s not much too look at. There’s none of the Adonis-like physical gifts that are seen elsewhere in the NRL.

He doesn’t have impeccably quick or soft hands. There’s no lightning in his fingertips. No blistering speed. His sidesteps are more a general change in direction. He has the appearance and aura of a wise-cracking, piss-taking tradie but after winning premierships for the Sydney Roosters and Sharks, and being instrumental in this year’s Origin triumph for the Blues, Maloney’s standing has crept from very good to … where? Great? Is he getting that high?

Something about Maloney makes it difficult to mention him in the same breaths as the absolutely premium players and yet he’s forging quite the career, inching to a higher echelon with every ­accomplishment. There’s extra­ordinary resilience in the mind and body. And the sheer rat cunning that makes him better than he should be.

Two ends of the emotional spectrum will be on display tonight. The Sharks’ Josh Dugan is being counselled by his club after the death of a young friend was followed by a soul-baring media interview this week.

Sharks coach Shane Flanagan has hinted that serious issues are at play with Dugan, referencing RUOK Day and asking for the player’s privacy to be respected.

They’re the things you say when mental health complications have arrived. But while Dugan’s mindset remains a mystery — a rough-and-tumble game of footy may be exactly what he needs — we know exactly where Maloney is. He thrives on a night like this, his eyes spinning like poker machines on a busy night at The Star.

He’s made two revealing comments this week. On the serious side, he’s told nrl.com.au, “This is the time of year you earn your pay cheque.” On the flipside, when he’s been asked about Sharks captain Paul Gallen trying to get into his head with mind games, Maloney has grinned, “You don’t want to get in (my head). It’s like Wonderland in there. I don’t know what’s doing.”

He knows what’s doing this evening. One-hundred-and-twenty kilograms of Andrew Fifita will be coming his way. A hundred and five kegs of Luke Lewis. The Sharks know Maloney. They’ve won a comp with him. They’ll attempt to steamroll him. That’ll shut him up, they believe.

When Flanagan is reminded that Maloney made fewer than 10 tackles last week against the New Zealand Warriors, the Sharks mentor says: “I’d like to think he’d make more in the first 20 minutes.”

Maloney’s first representative game was for NSW Residents. You can imagine him still playing for them. There’s still something spectacularly blue-collar about him.

Says Flanagan: “He’s one of a lot of players we’ve got to put our attention to. We know better than most what Jimmy can do on a football field. A lot of our players tomorrow have played with him and know what a quality player he is.’’

Asked if Maloney has a target on his head, Flanagan says: “Like all halves in every semi-final, we’re going to try to get to them. They’re going to be targeted and Jimmy will be no different.”

Maloney and the Sharks’ Matt Moylan have swapped clubs this year. They’re wearing each other’s old No 6 jerseys. They’re each other’s predecessor. They’re each other’s successor. Which club has benefited most from the swap? We’ll find out tonight.

Told of Maloney’s claim that Moylan has been better for the Sharks than he’s been for the Panthers, Flanagan says, “Typical Jimmy cheek. Playing it down. I’m sure Penrith are happy they’ve got Jimmy at their club. We’re happy we’ve got Matty Moylan at ours.”

Meanwhile, Flanagan regards Dugan’s welfare as paramount after the 28-year-old fought back tears at a media conference this week. Dugan became emotional when speaking about his frustrations over his poor public image and the heartbreak of a young fan dying of cancer.

“We’re working with him behind the scenes and it’s a delicate situation,” Flanagan says. “Maybe Wednesday was a good thing, for Josh to get it off his chest.

“The whole club has rallied. With all our players we’ve got to make sure they’re OK. They’re big and strong but sometimes we need to look a little bit deeper.

“We’d prefer it not to happen but it has and we just need to deal with it. Maybe it’s a good thing that it’s come out and we can address it now at another level. We have been addressing it but it’s at ­another level now.”