Valentine Holmes comes out on top after year of ups and downs
VALENTINE Holmes says he “flicked the switch” to unlock his best football after taking time to come to terms with his demotion to the wing.
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VALENTINE Holmes says he “flicked the switch” to unlock his best football after taking time to come to terms with his demotion to the wing.
Holmes lasted just one game in his desired fullback role before being shifted to the wing at Cronulla. For the first time in his five-year NRL career he had to come to terms with a perceived form slump.
“Anyone would say one week probably wasn’t enough,” Holmes said. “If you do to that to anyone in that position and move them to a wing it will affect their confidence. I had to get over it. I had to grow up a bit.
“You’re still playing at an elite level and we get to do the best job. It’s still a good job no matter where I’m playing.
“I was only young. I got over it and learnt from it. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”
What followed were questions about his commitment after a lack of involvement in matches from the wing. Holmes made just five runs in his first game after his move to the wing against St George Illawarra in round two.
“It hit me as well,” Holmes said. “There was a lot of talk about it. I tried to block it out as much as I could. We weren’t playing too well as a team. There were new combinations every week.
“But I would never not be interested in playing. I always love playing. I was more disappointed in myself for not holding that spot down and being shifted but it all came down to me.
“It was weird and disappointing. A lot of people look up to you. My family knew I would turn it around.”
Cronulla continued to toy with Josh Dugan and Matt Moylan at fullback. It wasn’t until a round 10 clash against Canberra with Dugan sidelined that Holmes knew he had a final crack of trying to keep the fullback role.
“We lost a lot of players in Paul Gallen, Wade Graham and Luke Lewis for that game,” Holmes said. “I felt like I had my best game there at fullback. Because we got a good win there — the Raiders were playing pretty well. That game me confidence I could keep that spot.
“Duges was injured and coming back next week but I thought I could hold that spot. I always knew I could play there. It was a matter of time and the coach giving me my shot again.
“It was a big learning year for myself. I had some ups and downs.
“My mindset changed. You can’t go into games second-guessing yourself. There are a lot of good players out there who can make you look silly. You need to go in confident. I thought that’s what I did well in the middle part of the year.
“When you play a couple of good games and make Origin you know you’re going well. you keep it to yourself but you can express it in a way when you’re playing you’re playing good and everyone knows you’re confident.”
Holmes emerged from the post-Origin period one of the game’s best players. So much so it seems remarkable that it wasn’t until round 18 that he played four games in a row in the No.1 jersey.
He feared his indifferent form may have cost him a Kangaroos jersey but Australian coach Mal Meninga kept the faith in Holmes who scored his 15th Test try from 12 appearances in Australia’s loss to the Kiwis last week.
No player in the NRL has played more minutes than Holmes this year, barring injury he would have played 2481 minutes by the time Australia finish their match against Tonga on Saturday night — his 31st appearance of the year.
He leaves for a holiday in the US and Cuba as a free agent before embarking on what he considers the biggest decision of his career as he looks to ink a long-term contract.
“I want stability in the next contract,” Holmes said. “I’m only 23 it will set me up to be my second last contract.
“There are only two clubs in the mix (North Queensland and Cronulla). It depends on what I want to do and my partner and family decide on doing.
“It’s going to be a huge decision. I started my career at the Sharks as a 17 year-old. They’ve given me everything I’ve wanted.
“I’m looking forward to a rest and get my mind off it. I want to get this win first and prove to everyone we are still the top team and we can play better than we did last week.”