Steve McNamara a “big fan” of James Maloney

Drew Darbyshire 21 Jul 2019 8:27 PM

Catalans coach Steve McNamara revealed he is a keen admirer of James Maloney after confirming the club will make at least one big signing ahead of the 2020 season.

The Dragons and Leeds have been strongly linked with a move for Penrith Panthers playmaker James Maloney for 2020 and beyond.

Maloney – who helped New South Wales claim an Origin series win over Queensland earlier this month – is off-contract with the Panthers at the end of this year.

And speaking after their 40-14 loss at Salford, McNamara admitted the club will make at least one huge signing for next season.

He said: “I said last week that we wouldn’t be making wholesale signings but we will be making one or two significant signings – certainly one.

“We will see what the next few weeks brings.

“I’m a big fan of Jimmy, I coached him at the Roosters. He is a great character and a great player. He is a champion player and I know him well.”

The Dragons joint fourth in the Super League table with Wigan and Castleford but are just two points above seventh-placed Salford.

And McNamara was bitterly disappointed with their performance against the Red Devils.

He added: “There are six games to go, I’m not quite sure exactly where we sit in the competition now but we’ll be on equal points with Castleford and Wigan and it is all to play for with six games to go.

“We are going to have to be a lot better than we were otherwise we are not going to make the play-offs.

“Our issue at the minute is that we’ve crumbled when we’ve gone behind in games. A close defeat turns into a big defeat and that’s our issue and it has happened numerous times this season.

“I’m very disappointed. Some of our efforts in the second half were disgusting, we were really poor. Today is a big step backwards for us.”

McNamara hopes to have Greg Bird, Kenny Edwards and Samisoni Langi at his disposal for the visit of Warrington in two weeks.