Thomas Simon Maling (born 3 June 1975) is a retired New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer and former

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

. His usual playing position was at

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

. He played for most of his rugby career in New Zealand for the

Otago Highlanders The Highlanders (; formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 competit ...

and the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

from 1996 - 2004 before heading overseas to London to play part of one season at Harlequins in 2004 before heading to Japan. He joined the

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby c ...

at the start of the 2008–09 European season, leaving

Suntory Sungoliath Tokyo Sungoliath (formerly known as Suntory Sungoliath) is owned by the Suntory beverage company and is one of the Japanese rugby union teams in the Top League. The team is based in Fuchū, Tokyo, as is their local rival Toshiba Brave Lupus. The t ...

in Japan, where he played for three years from 2005 to 2008. In mid-2009, at age 34, Maling hung up his boots and retired from rugby and returned to his native New Zealand to live.

Early life

Maling was born 3 June 1975 in Christchurch, New Zealand. He grew up in Cashmere, Christchurch and attended Christ's College where he excelled at both

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

and

. Upon finishing school he moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

to study at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

. As a student at the University of Otago he shared a flat with fellow former All Blacks

Anton Oliver Anton David Oliver (born 9 September 1975) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Previously, he played as a hooker for Marlborough (one of the predecessors to today's Tasman side) and Otago in the National Provincial Championship and A ...

and Tony Brown and earned the nickname 'Donk'. His first class debut came with three matches for New Zealand Colts in 1996, two of them at the Southern Hemisphere Under 21 tournament. The following year he made three

Super 14 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

appearances for the Highlanders, played once for the Rugby Academy and had eight matches for

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

, mostly as a replacement.

Early career

Maling played for the

in the Super 14 competition starting in 1997 for a total of seven years. In 1999, with Maling in good form, the Highlanders reached the Super 14 final where they were narrowly defeated by the

Canterbury Crusaders The Crusaders (; formerly Canterbury Crusaders) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch, who compete in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in the competition's history and have won a to ...

by a score of 24–19. During most of this time he was one of the Highlanders key players, playing at lock, and known for his energy, reliability in the line out, and good work rate. He played 11 tests for the All Blacks since making his international debut against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 2001 and he was an All Black for four years. He studied at the University of Otago where he gained his

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

degree. Maling's failure to make the 2003 All Black squad for the

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

came as a major disappointment and as a surprise to many commentators as he had been the inform lock and the best line-out jumper in the Super 12 competition leading up to the Rugby World Cup. Nevertheless, he had been struggling with injuries earlier in the season and this may have cost him his place.

Later career

In 2004, following the 2003 Rugby World Cup, Maling made it back into the All Blacks and played all four tri-nations tests that year. However, at the end of the 2004 season the New Zealand Rugby Almanack commented that "Simon Maling lacked the enthusiasm of earlier in his career". Nevertheless, the shortage of good locks in New Zealand at the time of his retirement from All Black rugby meant that if he had stayed longer in New Zealand he might have expected to continue with the All Blacks for a while longer. In 2004, Maling's All Black career ended with a disheartening 40–26 loss to South Africa. Having played in 11 tests, Maling headed overseas first to London in late 2004 where after a brief spell with Harlequins he headed on to Japan where he joined Japanese club

. In 2006, Suntory Sungoliath lost the final of the

Top League Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by ...

and

Microsoft Cup The Top League Championship is Japan's highest-level knockout tournament for rugby union clubs. Held annually, the leading teams from the Top League regular season qualify for the playoffs to decide the Cup title. From 2018 onward, the All-Japa ...

title to

Toshiba Brave Lupus Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. They are based in Fuchu, Tokyo, as is their local rival Suntory Sungoliath. They won the second ever Top League championship in the 2004-5 season and the Mic ...

by a score of 33–18. Then in February 2007, Suntory Sungoliath again lost the final of the Top League and Microsoft Cup title to Toshiba Brave Lupus before a crowd of 23,076 at Tokyo's Chichibunomiya Stadium, the first sellout at the ground in 10 years. The score was 14–13 to Toshiba Brave Lupus. According to Maling, the team was totally gutted by the loss. However Suntory with Maling in the team won the fifth

on 24 February 2008 to become champions of the

for 2007–08. On 5 February 2008 it was announced that Maling would join

Llanelli Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby com ...

for the 2008/09 season. In April 2009 him and Gavin Thomas were released because of the clause in their contract that said if they were injured for more than 26 weeks they would be released. Maling returned to New Zealand to live in 2009, where he now farms in the South Island close to

Wānaka Wānaka () is a popular ski and summer resort town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. At the southern end of Lake Wānaka, it is at the start of the Clutha River and is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. Wānaka ...

Summary

A clever line-out forward with a good workrate and a good jumper, Maling perhaps lacked the physical presence to dominate at the very top level. But he was a respected opponent at all levels and gave good service to the All Blacks in the 13 matches (11 tests) that he played. Maling was on the winning side in 9 of the 11 tests in which he played, a winning percentage of 81%.

References

External links

*
NZ Rugby History profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maling, Simon 1975 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union locks New Zealand international rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players Scarlets players University of Otago alumni New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Wales Rugby union players from Christchurch Julius family Elworthy family Ormond family Harper family Tokyo Sungoliath players Otago rugby union players