NRL 2023: Cowboys star Valentine Holmes faces one match suspension, $25k fine over white bag scandal

The NRL has come down hard on Valentine Holmes, slapping the Cowboys star with a hefty fine and a one match suspension over his role in North Queensland’s white bag scandal.

Valentine Holmes has denied using drugs.

Cowboys star Valentine Holmes has been fined $25,000 by the NRL and slapped with a one-match suspension for his role in North Queensland’s white bag scandal.

This masthead can reveal Holmes will accept the NRL’s proposed sanction when the Queensland Origin centre formally responds to a breach notice by Wednesday’s 5pm deadline.

The one-match ban could have left him in danger of missing the NRL’s season opener next year, but his possible selection for Australia’s upcoming Test series will almost certainly see Holmes cleared for the Cowboys’ round-one clash in 2024.

Holmes is the latest NRL star to be disciplined by the NRL integrity unit - two years after Storm trio Cameron Munster, Brandon Smith and Chris Lewis were fined a total of $49,000 and each hit with one-game bans over Melbourne’s white-powder saga.

It is understood Holmes is due to front the Cowboys board, who are likely to dispense a separate penalty on top of the NRL’s sanction in the coming days.

The Instagram image of Valentine Holmes with what appears to be a white bag in his mouth.

Valentine Holmes is expected to cop a ban from the NRL. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

Holmes was given a breach notice by the NRL last week after posting an image on his social-media accounts which depicted him with a mysterious white bag in his mouth.

North Queensland’s $4 million man was interviewed by the Cowboys and the NRL integrity unit, resulting in him being handed a breach notice with undisclosed sanctions.

But the sanctions can now be revealed, with Holmes advising Cowboys chiefs he will not contest the NRL’s $25,000 fine and one-game suspension.

The 28-year-old told a Cowboys and NRL integrity unit inquiry last week he did not take cocaine or any illicit drugs and described the image, intended to be sent privately to a friend, as a silly prank gone wrong.

NRL officialdom didn’t see it as a laughing matter.

The one-match ban will leave Australia coach Mal Meninga with a decision to make given Holmes would have been front and centre when he sat down to select his side for the upcoming Pacific Nations tournament.

Holmes was a central figure in the Kangaroos’ World Cup win last year but may be forced to sit out the opening match of the upcoming tournament unless he can have the Prime Minister’s XIII game this Saturday included as part of the sanction.

Mal Meninga now has a difficult choice to make if he is to select Valentine Holmes foir the upcoming Pacific Nations tournament. Picture: Getty Images

Holmes wasn’t picked in the side for the PNG clash after Meninga, ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese felt it would send the wrong message given he was under investigation.

Should the PM’s XIII game not count, Holmes could be rubbed out of Australia’s opening Test against Samoa in his hometown Townsville on October 14.

If the Cowboys sharpshooter misses the squad for the Pacific Nations tournament, it would represent a further financial impost given he would have been paid as much as $9,000 for his involvement in the event.

Holmes’ Queensland Origin skipper and World Cup teammate Daly Cherry-Evans said he was shocked by the image, describing the act as out of character. But Cherry-Evans hopes Holmes learns from the affair.

“These things you never expect to pop up,” said Cherry-Evans, the PM’s XIII vice-captain.

“I never expected that, but people make mistakes, we all make mistakes, and I think Val deserves the benefit of the doubt over many years that he is a good person.

“I still think he is a good person and whatever happened up there, he made a mistake and I’m sure he will get in trouble from the NRL or his club and from there we just move on.

“It’s as simple as that.”

Cherry-Evans said he has been in contact with Holmes and backed the Cowboys ace to bounce back quickly from his white-bag blunder.

“In my time playing with Val in Origin, he is a professional,” he said.

“Look at his success in the game, he does everything right by his team and trains bloody hard and he is a good family man.

“I have a lot of time for Val and I messaged him straight away to see if he was OK because I know how hard people can be on NRL players when they make these mistakes.

“I wanted to reassure him that these things happen, Val just has to move on and earn everyone’s respect back and that comes with time.”

Originally published as NRL 2023: Cowboys star Valentine Holmes faces one match suspension, $25k fine over white bag scandal