Thanks, Jimmy: Favourite rugby league larrikin Maloney retires

Rugby league champion James Maloney has announced his retirement at age 35.

Maloney posted the news on his social media channels on Tuesday (AEST) and he will hang up the boots and depart Catalans where he has spent the past two years.

“The time has come to hang up the boots from professional footy,” Maloney wrote.

“It’s been one hell of a ride and I’ve loved every minute of it. Thanks to everyone who has played a part in my career along the way, most importantly my beautiful wife Jess Maloney who has been there from the start.”

Maloney was possibly underrated during his time in the NRL but he was one of the winningest players of the decade.

The diminutive five-eighth debuted for Melbourne in 2009 and played four games for the Storm before heading to the Warriors, where he spent three years as their No.6.

In 2013 he joined the Roosters, where he won a premiership in his first year, partnering a young Mitchell Pearce in the halves as the Chooks downed Manly in the grand final.

Maloney would stay at Bondi for a further two seasons before heading to Cronulla, where again he won an NRL premiership with the Sharks in his first year at the club.

In 2018 Maloney switched to Penrith where he took rookie halfback Nathan Cleary under his wing and they partnered one another for the first two years of Cleary’s career.

Maloney left the NRL at the end of 2019 to head to the Super League with Catalans, even though many believed he still had plenty to offer in Australia.

Maloney also played three Tests for Australia and 14 State of Origins for NSW.

He won the 2018 and 2019 series with the Blues.

Maloney will be remembered as one of the game’s great characters, a true larrikin on and off the field. But his achievements on the football field are remarkable, too.

 

Story first published on Fox Sports

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