The Kangaroos half has been linked with varying degrees of conviction to Newcastle, Penrith, Melbourne, Souths and the New Zealand Warriors throughout the past season amid the suggestion he wants a more lucrative contract. But Maloney says he plans to serve out the final year of his Sharks contract.

His stock rose again on Saturday when he helped orchestrate Australia's wins over Papua New Guinea and Fiji in Suva, playing halfback to cover for Cooper Cronk who was rested.

It is believed Maloney, a two-time premiership winner, has sought more money for the final season of his three-year deal at the Sharks but Cronulla is unwilling to play ball.

"I'm at Cronulla as far as I know," Maloney said when asked about his future after the game. "I don't hear much and unless I hear something from Cronulla saying I'm unwanted and I can look around. We'll cross that bridge then.

"As far as I know I've got the World Cup to focus on and I'm at Cronulla next year."

Maloney is targeting a starting spot in Australia's World Cup opener against England on October 27, hoping to get the nod at five-eighth ahead of North Queensland Cowboys star Michael Morgan, who was rested on the weekend.

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga said after the match that five-eighth was one of the positions up for grabs as his side's World Cup charge begins to take shape.

Morgan's superb late-season form helped steer the Johnathan Thurston-less Cowboys from eighth place to the NRL grand final, before their fairy tale run came to a shuddering halt with a heavy loss to Melbourne.

The talented half looked to have the Australia No.6 jersey sewn up, but Meninga has hinted that is not necessarily the case with Maloney and rookie Cameron Munster also in the squad.

Munster had a forgettable Kangaroos debut on Saturday but had been battling illness in the lead-up. Maloney was superb, steering the side to a 20-4 win over Papua New Guinea and an 18-0 triumph over Fiji.

"I was happy with the hit-out - first run in a couple of weeks since the PNG [Prime Minister's XIII] game," he said.

"There's things I can do better and will get better.

"We know there's a few people there that are probably available for that spot. All I can do is play as good as I can every time I get an opportunity and wait and see what happens.

"It's a long six weeks and anything can happen. It might not start how it finishes and we don't know, I might get it to start with, might not.

"All you do is go with it, put your best foot forward and as a squad make sure we play a good World Cup and win it."

Maloney is one of three Cronulla players in Meninga's squad, which also includes Shark-to-be Josh Dugan. Andrew Fifita was initially part of the Kangaroos' World Cup charge, but defected to Tonga soon after his selection.

His move doesn't seem to have weakened the Australian pack, which runs as deep as the rest of the playing squad.

"That's across the park everywhere, I think that's the beauty of the Australian side, there's so many good players that are eligible and you can only pick 24," Maloney said. "You can probably pick another 24 behind them that's going to be very strong as well.

"That's the beauty and I suppose that's why we've got the expectation to win it and that's what we're going to have to do."