Cronulla table a massive five-year deal for Valentine Holmes worth $4 million

THE Cowboys face an uphill battle to poach Valentine Holmes, with Cronulla tabling a monster five-year extension, worth more than $4 million, to keep the Queensland ace at the Sharks.

Valentine Holmes of the Sharks runs with the ball during the Round 22 NRL match between the Melbourne Storm and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at AAMI Park in Melbourne, Sunday, August 12, 2018. (AAP Image/Daniel Pockett) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

THE Cowboys face an uphill battle to poach Valentine Holmes, with Cronulla tabling a monster five-year extension, worth more than $4 million, to keep the Queensland ace at the Sharks.

The Sunday Mail can reveal the Sharks have upped the ante in the fight for Holmes, offering a lucrative deal for the Maroons flyer to remain in the Sutherland Shire until the end of 2023.

Holmes is already contracted to Cronulla until 2020, but he has a 12-month option in his favour, enabling him to explore rival offers from November 1 this year.

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North Queensland have already registered interest in Holmes and are ready to table a formal offer to bring some speed, youth and flair to their backline following their nightmare 2018 campaign.

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Ironically, Holmes will play his 100th NRL game against a Cowboys club that is prepared to offer him his preferred fullback spot to lure the 23-year-old to Townsville.

But the Sharks are determined to win the tug of war for one of the NRL’s most dangerous attacking weapons.

It is understood Cronulla powerbrokers have discussed a three-year extension on top of his existing deal.

The five-year package is believed to be worth at least $800,000 a season, a multimillion-dollar deal the Cowboys will struggle to match under the salary cap.

Holmes has been in red hot form for Cronulla. Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images.

North Queensland have secured Jason Taumalolo on a 10-year contract and they paid $5 million in March to secure Cowboys Origin star Michael Morgan to a five-year deal.

Morgan and Holmes are close mates — their partners are sisters — and a return to Townsville has some appeal for the Sharks tryscoring machine.

Cowboys hulk Taumalolo believes Holmes, a Townsville junior, could revitalise the 2015 premiers.

“He could (be great at the Cowboys). He definitely adds something to Cronulla,” he said.

“He is one of those players that can turn nothing into something. That is what makes him so dangerous.

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“Val’s still at Cronulla, but if he does choose to come home he could definitely add something to the Cowboys.

“He could be that extra spark and X-factor. He can change games by himself.”

Queensland Origin selector Darren Lockyer, part of the panel that blooded Holmes in the Origin arena last year, said the Sharks cannot afford to lose the attacking dynamo.

“He’s the type of guy you can build a club around for a long time,” Lockyer said.

“At the start of the year, everyone was saying Val is only a winger but I’ve been really impressed with him as a fullback in the past month.

“He has developed a good passing game, he is reading the play well.

“He would be a great signing for the Cowboys but I’m sure Cronulla will do everything possible to keep him.”