Valentine Holmes has a shot at two slices of Cronulla Sharks history

VALENTINE Holmes has set the rugby league world alight since moving to fullback in such incredible fashion that he has a shot at two different slices of Cronulla Sharks history.

VALENTINE Holmes almost dropped the phone.

“Not even ET? Wow,’’ the stunned Sharks fullback said.

“To become the first Cronulla player ever to finish the season as the competition’s leading tryscorer, out of all the legends and greats that have played at the Sharks, that surprises me.

“I didn’t realise that.’’

Holmes’ fast lane towards history continues when Cronulla face North Queensland at Shark Park.

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In his 100th NRL match, Holmes has three games to become the first Sharks player to finish on top of the NRL’s leading tryscorer table.

The 23-year old’s 19 tries this year has provided him with a two-try gap ahead of Melbourne’s Josh Addo-Carr and South Sydney’s Robert Jennings, who have both collected 17 tries so far.

Adding further lustre to his sizzling season, Holmes is also sitting equal with Cronulla club legend David Peachey’s season record of 19 tries.

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Holmes achieved the same feat in 2016, but only needs one more try to better his premiership-winning tally and break Peachey’s 19-year record at the Sharks for most tries in a season.

“It’s not something I probably set goals for at the start of the year,’’ Holmes said of his try-fest.

“I would think that’s a selfish thing, to try and score tries, so you can break records.

“But I definitely love the accolades.

“To surpass someone like David Peachey, who has obviously held the record for a while, that’s special.’’

Holmes scored his 19th try of the season. Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images.

Holmes comes across as quiet and unassuming.

But given a quiet moment to chat one-on-one, Holmes boasts a definite sense of maturity and self-awareness of where his talent — and ‘brand’ — can take him.

He’s aware that amid the lure of returning to Townsville to be closer to family and gifting his future to his opposition tonight, the Cowboys, is an equally important reason to stay at the Shire club, which signed him having only ever seen iPhone footage of the 17-year-old.

“I do think about that quite a bit — what staying at the one club can do for your career on and off the field,’’ Holmes said.

“Obviously Gal (Paul Gallen) has been a one club man and so has ET (Andrew Ettingshausen) and I think the fans love players who stick around at one club.

“You get a lot of recognition and accolades for being a one-club man, so I have definitely thought about it.

“It would be an amazing thing to be able stay a one-club man.’’

Holmes won’t make a call either way until after the finals series.

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For now, he’s riding on a wave of confidence that began during this year’s State of Origin series with Queensland and could finish with records smashed and broken.

“From the moment Kevin Walters (QLD coach) picked me, I wanted to prove why he picked me,’’ Holmes said.

“That then turned my season around at club level as well.

“Flanno (Shane Flanagan) obviously had trust in me playing at fullback. That’s all players really need, you want your coaches to believe in you.

Can Holmes break Peachey’s record?

“And then when you have teammates that trust you and have confidence in you to back yourself, you start doing better things and playing better.

“It’s not about giving me a big head or anything, but Moysa (Matt Moylan), Chaddy (Chad Townsend) and Wado (Wade Graham) they just say; ‘keep it up, don’t think about the outside noise, just keep doing your thing’.

“When you hear that coming from someone like Wade Graham and those boys you feel privileged and excited to play alongside them.

“I’m really enjoying my footy and I want that to continue against the Cowboys.’’