After managing 21 matches in is first season at the Demons, the 24-year-old has struggled to consistently run out week after week.
Just 25 matches in his past three years at the club, including eight in 2008, highlight the gifted ballwinner’s battle to take the field.
There is no questioning his ability, but a combination of shoulder and groin complaints have combined to limit his impact in his four seasons at the Demons.
Now, however, the former Warrnambool junior believes he is over his setbacks.
With a couple of reconstructions – as well as a clean-up – to a shoulder and the painful osteitis pubis behind him, Moloney is ready to fire.
“I’m just keen to get in there and get amongst it,” he said.
Like the majority of the Demons’ list, the man with the lethal right boot is in great nick.
Numbers, he says, are noticeably different from at the same time 12 months ago.
“We’ve got a lot more guys training on the track … We’ve got nearly 40 guys out there instead of having 20 guys out there last year,” Moloney said.
“That’s important for the team and where we want to go.”
While new fitness staff such as Joel Hocking have helped players reach new fitness levels, the once fanatical Moloney says he has also matured.
Realising he was partially responsible for his groin problems earlier in his career, he has scaled back his workload in a bid to be primed for the year ahead.
“My groin problems started when I sort of over-trained,” Moloney said.
“I trained too much. I’d train on my days off, I was just wanting to get that edge on players and it wasn’t the right thing to do.
“I was a bit younger then, but now I’ve got to train smarter and not harder, so that’s sort of been my philosophy this year.
“If I’m a little bit sore then I put my hand up and don’t try to grind through it because in the end I might break down again.”
He says his lesson is one he can pass on to his teammates, many of whom are at similar ages to him when he went astray.
“It’s just about knowing your body,” he said.
“When I talk to the young guys now I tell them about what happened to me.
“It doesn’t mean you don’t train hard. Instead of going for a run on a Sunday, go for a swim.”
Moloney said the results of a fitter, more youthful list have helped buoy spirits at the club.
“We spoke about that … it’s all about being positive and with so many young guys coming it that brings excitement and everyone’s positive anyway,” he said.
“It’s about being fit. Everyone’s come back fit and everyone’s training well.
“You’ve just got to get confidence from training at this time of the year; that’s the only thing anyone can do anyway until the games come around.
“We go down to Tassie in a month or so to play Hawthorn in the NAB Cup, so we’ll see how we go there. But we’re all feeling really good and looking forward to it.”
