Marquee man James Maloney has all-but ruled out returning to Australia for a short-term stint if the NRL season restarts as planned on May 28.
The 33-year-old is in the first season of a rich three-year deal with France-based Super League club Catalans.
There has been speculation Super League stars including Sonny Bill Williams and Maloney could be tempted back to the NRL should the Australian competition resume next month.
The Super League is also suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic but appears unlikely to return for several months.
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Maloney had NRL stints with Melbourne, New Zealand Warriors, Sydney Roosters, Cronulla and Penrith and was a member of the victorious NSW Blues State of Origin squad in 2019.
“I don’t know logistically how it works, probably not,” Maloney told WWOS Radio when asked if he would consider a short-term return to the NRL.
“I know Catalans are doing their best obviously to be able to keep paying us so I don’t know how you could all of sudden try and work out – even if the NRL did manage to get back – how you’d try and manage a short-term deal.
“I think it’s probably more headaches logistically than what it’s sort of worth and I just don’t think it’s possible, so it’s probably nothing I’ve really thought about.”
And while his former NRL colleagues this month agreed to a whopping 74 percent pay cut this month, Maloney revealed he expects to receive most or all of his generous salary regardless of whether the Super League season gets back underway.
“For us at Catalans we get paid in the fifth of the month, so the month just gone we got paid in entirety,” Maloney said.
“Our owner’s basically just said he’ll do his very best, obviously everyone’s taking hits financially so it’s a little bit up in the air and we don’t really know what’s coming up.
“I think there is a bit of a security blanket over here where the government will cover maybe 84 percent of your wage in the worst-case scenario.
“So that gives us a little bit of security but obviously it’s all a little bit unknown.”
