Dual NRL premiership winner James Maloney has lifted the lid on his first role coaching with the North Queensland Cowboys since retiring from rugby league early in 2023.
Maloney is renowned for being one of the most annoying players to play against, but has always been seen as one of the game’s great winners across the modern NRL era.
The 37-year-old steered both the Roosters and Sharks to Grand Final wins in 2013 and 2016 respectively, whilst taking the Warriors to the decider in 2011 – for just the second time in the club’s history.
Noted as one of the best halves of his era, Maloney has been tasked with working alongside star five-eighth Tom Dearden and helping the club rejuvenate its attack that failed to live up to expectations in 2023.
“He’s really good, (he’s) a really good guy to coach,” Maloney told SEN’s Sportsday.
“He’s one of those guys you can speak to him about something and you see him straight away thinking about it the very next session.
“The challenge of coaching is you sort of coach a squad of 30 different personalities, some pick things quicker, some other guys take a bit longer to break habits but I’ve really enjoyed working with him.”
Maloney revealed his role as the club’s new attacking coach and opened up on the difference in the mindset of the Cowboys players.
“I try and keep pretty upbeat and pretty happy, it’s never the most enjoyable time (in) preseason, I’m trying to get everyone’s head out of survival mode,” Maloney added.
“They’ve been pretty good, I’m just sort of looking after their attack and trying to work out our style of play and get them playing to our strengths so that we can show them off.”
The Cowboys kick off their 2023 season in the final game of Round 1 against cross-state rivals the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, March 10.