Maloney will ‘bring class’ to Dragons

As Catalans Dragons wait for Israel Folau to arrive in France, fellow Australian James Maloney will take centre stage when he makes his Super League debut in Perpignan today.

Until the signing of controversial dual-code Folau, who will link up with his new team-mates next week, Maloney was the big name tipped to turn the French club into a Super League force and is the man Huddersfield will aim to close down.

“He’s going to bring a lot of class to the Catalan team,” said Giants’ new captain, Aidan Sezer, another highprofile half-back recruit from Australia. “We need to nullify him.”

Maloney, 33, was a member of the Australia squad who won the World Cup in 2017 and helped New South Wales to victory in the 2019 State of Origin Series before opting to try his hand at Super League.

And Catalans coach Steve Mcnamara has no doubt he will thrive on the pressure thrust on him.

“He plays and trains the same way, whether it’s a training run or a Grand Final,” said Mcnamara, who coached Maloney during his time at Sydney Roosters. “He’s in great form.”

Also making his Super League bow will be Huddersfield’s Samoan recruit James Gavet and Kenny Edwards. Edwards spent the previous two seasons with the Dragons, winning the 2018 Challenge Cup.

While the Catalans are expected to challenge for a semi-final spot, question marks still surround the Giants, who were involved in a relegation battle right to the last day of the season in 2019, but coach Simon Woolford is not concerned.

“We had three games where we scored with five minutes left to go, in front by six and lost them all,” he said. “Win those three games and you’re talking about possible semifinals and not relegation.”