Kenty’s Man of the Moment – James Maloney – Cronulla Sharks

James Maloney drags himself up for one more round Saturday. Still bruised and beaten from the Origin decider in Queensland on Wednesday, Maloney will play for the Sharks after coach Shane Flanagan decided to name him alongside fellow Origin reps Andrew Fifita and Wade Graham.

Surprisingly, winger and the only Shark to play for the winning Origin team, Val Holmes, has been rested.

Maloney is crucial to the Sharks’ chances against Gold Coast. While it looks something of a no-brainer on paper (the Sharks are second while the Titans are 14th) Cronulla is all too aware that when the Titans headed to their home ground in round eight they came away with a solid 16-12 win.

So this is payback. And the Sharks need a firing Maloney to spark an attack that is among the more unusual in the competition. They rank low on what is usually the indicator for a team’s success, completions, but have managed to go along winning anyway and have recently found form with the ball that has many beginning to wonder whether, having broke their premiership drought after 50 years last year, they are set to do it again and repeat.

By Paul Kent

Image: NRL Imagery