Penrith star James Maloney is free to play in Friday's NRL clash with the Wests Tigers after beating a dangerous contact charge at the judiciary. Maloney was facing a one-game ban for his tackle on Canberra forward John Bateman in Saturday's loss to the Raiders but the three-member panel comprising Dallas Johnson, Mal Cochrane and Sean Garlick took 20 minutes to find Maloney not guilty. "Happy with the outcome. Just gotta go through the process. I was a little bit surprised when the charge actually came. Nice to have it cleared and move onto this week," Maloney said. Maloney was cited twice by the match review committee on Sunday, and pleaded guilty to a dangerous throw from the same game before fighting the second count. He began the hour-long hearing by explaining that after initially losing hold of Bateman, he re-gripped the arm and held on until he heard a "held" call. He also accused the Englishman of milking for a penalty, which wasn't awarded. "I'd almost lost him so I'm just holding onto his arm," Maloney argued. "There hasn't been a held call and the ball-playing arm is still in the air... I hear a held call, I release, I get shoved three times with that (same) arm." NRL prosecutor Peter McGrath accused Maloney of putting weight on the back of Bateman's elbow, a wrestling technique which could've caused a hyper-extension. However, defence counsel Nick Ghabar argued Maloney's contact was in the crook of the elbow and there was no twisting of Bateman's arm.
