James Maloney is free to play for Penrith against the Wests Tigers on Friday night after being cleared of a Dangerous Contact charge by the NRL judiciary.
Maloney was alleged to have affected a ‘chicken wing’ tackle on Canberra forward John Bateman.
Leaving NRL headquarters tonight, Maloney said he was confident he’d beat the charge.
“I’m happy with the outcome. Just got to go through the process obviously, but I am happy we got a fair hearing and got the right result,” he said.
“I was a little bit surprised when the charge actually came but it’s nice to have it cleared and move on to next week.
“I was pretty confident I hadn’t done anything wrong.”
Troy Dodds
Troy Dodds is the Weekender's Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia's leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.