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Freddy, just do the normal thing and pick James Maloney

22nd May, 2018
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James Maloney is a winner, plain and simple. He slept with a Panther and now he is a Panther. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Roar Guru
22nd May, 2018
38
1342 Reads

As I write this, Brad Fittler is no doubt agonising over potential halves combinations to take the field for New South Wales Blues on June 6 at the MCG for Origin 1.

There are no two ways about it – it’s a bloody tough decision to make. Personally, I flip between Luke Keary and Nathan Cleary on a daily basis.

There is but one certainty in my mind. That is James Maloney.

Over the last week or so, through the words of Penrith Supremo Phil Gould, it has emerged that there may be some “shocking” selections in the halves. Many have speculated that this means Maloney is on the outer.

“He misses tackles!”

Sure. But his teams win.

“His discipline is terrible!”

Yeah. But his teams win.

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“He’s a pest and everyone thinks he’s annoying!”

Absolutely! But his teams win.

Whatever you say about James Maloney, the bottom line is that he is a winner.

James Maloney Cronulla Sharks NRL Finals 2016 Rugby League tall

Pictured: James Maloney, shortly after winning something. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

He’s taken three different teams to grand finals, winning two premierships along the way. Since cementing a spot in first grade with the Warriors in 2011, his teams have missed the finals just once – that was 2012, with the Kiwis.

He also won three minor premierships in a row with the Roosters from 2013-2015. As an interesting aside, the year that Maloney left the Roosters (2016), they came second last. Coincidence? Maybe. Correlation does not always equal causation. But that’s still one hell of a coincidence.

In 2018, Maloney has been absolutely killing it. He’s second behind Keary in try assists for NSW players (sixth overall) with ten. He’s got the most kick metres of any NSW player (second overall behind Cooper Cronk) with 3178 metres.

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On the flipside, his error count is 18, making him equal third overall. This is likely a product of him touching the ball so much due to Nathan Cleary’s injury-enforced break. And yes, he leads the competition for missed tackles by a long way, with 63, but since when do we pick halves based on their ability to defend?

Aside from being one of the form halves in the NRL (certainly the form NSW half), Maloney brings a wealth of experience and knowledge that Keary and Cleary simply do not possess.

In addition, Maloney is of the Johnathan Thurston mold, in that he is equally adept at directing a team around the park as he is at taking a back seat and injecting himself into the game as he pleases.

Maloney is clearly the best half in the state. I don’t care if he’s picked at 6 or at 7 or with whom he is paired. But if there’s one thing that I know for sure, it’s that he simply has to be in the team.

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Those who know Freddy Fittler say he’s a bit weird, a little bit different – marches to the beat of his own drum. To be frank, I can ascertain most of that for myself by watching him on TV every weekend.

They say he sees things differently – I respect that, it’s a good quality.

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Not that my approval should mean much to someone who’s played 336 NRL games, 31 Origins and 38 Tests. My highest height in rugby league was missing a tackle on Dylan Walker in the U13s.

I don’t claim to have anywhere near his rugby league knowledge. I am a mere peasant compared to rugby league royalty like Freddy.

But if I may, I have a sneaking suspicion that his desire to perhaps not pick Maloney stems from the fact that he likes to pick the weird option over the normal one, and picking the comp’s form half for Origin is without a doubt what any normal person would do.

Freddy has got to where he is by doing things his way, but if he were to do something different to what is normal for him (keeping in mind that his concept of ‘different’ is most people’s concept of ‘normal’), I would suggest it be picking Maloney for Origin 1.

Make no mistake, once the team is picked, I will be behind those 17 players 100 per cent. But in the fair dinkum department, we as a state are not giving ourselves the best chance of winning if James Maloney is not in the team.

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