‘I had some tough talks’: Social media scandal a lesson for Holmes

Valentine Holmes has refused to divulge the substance pictured in the controversial social media post that threatened his spot in the Kangaroos side before a milestone match against New Zealand.

Holmes and Australian teammate Daly Cherry-Evans will each make their 20th Test appearance in Saturday’s clash at Melbourne’s AAMI Park, a game that will also feature debuts for Nicho Hynes and Tom Flegler. Holmes was fined $25,000 and given a one-game suspension, served during the opening match of Australia’s Pacific Championships campaign, after an image of him holding a white bag in his mouth was published online on September 10.

Although the post was deleted shortly afterwards, and the Cowboys star told those close to him it was meant as a joke, he feared it would cost him his Test jersey for the three-match series. Instead, Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga called him onto the wing for the clash against the Kiwis.

Holmes was made available to the media after Wednesday’s Kangaroos training session, the first time he has faced questions about the scandal. The first question was pointed: what was in the bag?

“I gave my statement to the integrity unit, the NRL and the club,” Holmes said. “So I’d prefer to leave it at that.

“Obviously, it’s a pleasure to be here. Mal has confidence in me doing the job for Australia, it’s always a pleasure to be here.”

Pressed on if he meant for the image of him with the bag to be posted on social media, the 28-year-old said: “Nah. I’ll just leave it with the statement I left with the NRL and the integrity unit, but happy to answer any questions you want for Australia.”

Holmes conceded he expected to be overlooked for Meninga’s squad after the incident.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “Not only with what happened, but I hadn’t played the last four games with the Cowboys as well due to suspension for the high tackle.

“I didn’t think he’d select me. Obviously, I’d been doing a lot of training, it’s just the games I’ve been missing out on; it’s been almost 10 or 11 weeks since I’ve played footy.

“To see the trust he has instilled in me to pull on this jersey in this game, especially for this one, my next one is my 20th Test and it’s a pretty big milestone for me.”

Valentine Holmes with a white bag in his mouth.

The premiership-winning back said he would learn from the scandal.

“I had some tough talks with the family, my side of the family and my wife’s side of the family,” he said.

“It was a tough couple of days for a bit there. You’ve just got to move on, move forward and learn from it. Just be better … You never take anything for granted in life, especially what we do as footy players.

“You don’t know when our last game could be or what could happen outside of footy. To be able to wear this training jersey for Australia alongside some of the great players in our game, it’s a privilege to even be here.”

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