Retired championship great James Maloney confirmed his aspirations to coach at NRL level after hanging up his boots after a stellar career.
After a 13-year career at the highest level, Maloney officially announced his retirement this week, having played 278 first-grade games between five different clubs in the NRL and the Catalans in the British Super League.
As his playing days are over, Maloney has admitted that he would like to stay in France for the next few years, potentially in a coaching role with the Catalans, before returning home to pursue his NRL coaching career.
“This is the path I think I’ll take,” he told Nine’s The golden point of Macca when asked about Phil Gould’s coaching aspirations.
“When I got to Penrith, he showed me it’s something that interests me. I had all these kids trying to [me] for advice, and then you start to get a real buzz to see them debut and get picked on the reps sides.
“I think that’s what you can get from coaching and I think it’s going to be a little fun.”
Despite admitting to enjoying the day, Maloney admitted that preparation ahead of matches is something he couldn’t see done next season, a key factor in his retirement.
“I just got to a point where mentally I wasn’t getting anything out of all training during the week,” he said.
“I still enjoy match day and still enjoy match but all the work during the week, I was no longer fully invested in it, so it wouldn’t be fair for teammates and the club to go around one more year. “
Gould, who was the GM of Football at Penrith during Maloney’s 44-game spell at the club, believes the champion halfback has what it takes to be a good coach.
“I can [see Maloney as a coach], I hope it does. I hope he has a James Maloney on his side, “he said.
“He’s going to sit in a video session and grab a secret yogurt and drink down [beside his seat] and he’ll do things and he won’t even listen to what’s going on, and then the coach will ask him a question and he’ll do it 100% right, and then he’ll teach us all something we haven’t seen before.
“He is very, very smart. [He’s got] unshakable confidence in his own abilities, unshakable confidence in his teammates.
“The two things I liked the most about him: first of all he was the family – a lovely husband and devoted father, but first of all the team – he was always the team in everything he did.
“He had an unshakable faith in everyone around him and in his strength of purpose and that really infected a lot of people.”
Maloney’s former teammate Paul Gallen, who shared a locker room with him on the Sharks Premiership-winning team in 2016, also confirmed his managerial credentials.
“He actually really knows footy,” he said. “If you sit down and talk to him about football, he knows the game perfectly.”
“The thing is, he’s too smart for everyone else. He knows what’s going to happen in front of everyone else, that’s why he messes around with training so much.
“He has never listened in a video session, but he understands and knows exactly what is going to happen.
“I remember seeing the character change from mid-season to when we reached the semi-final in 2016.
“Absolutely scallywag every session, he didn’t want to lift weights, he didn’t do anything. As soon as the semifinals came, he ran every video session and took us all the way to the grand final.”
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