Valentine Holmes has killed off any debate about the Cronulla No.1 jersey after scoring two tries in his side’s 24-12 NRL trial win over the Wests Tigers on Saturday.
There were widespread calls for Holmes to be shifted to the wing after breaking records for Australia on the flank during their World Cup campaign.
Holmes last year failed to have the same impact at the back as Ben Barba during the club’s 2016 premiership campaign and the arrival of Matt Moylan and Josh Dugan gave coach Shane Flanagan plenty of options.
The Sharks were given some nervous moments after Dugan left the field midway through the second half with what appeared to be a jaw injury however coach Shane Flanagan said the NSW Origin outside back was fine.
Flanagan said Dugan brushed off the injury and was at the time due to come off the field for a scheduled interchange anyway.
The story of the night was Queensland Origin ace Holmes removing any doubt about where he will start round one after starring in their encouraging win over the Tigers.
After Ricky Leutele opened the scoring for the Sharks, he turned provider, producing a flick pass for Holmes’ first of the night.
One of the big question marks hanging over the Sharks is how their new look left-side will perform this year following the loss of James Maloney and the arrival of Moylan.
They slowly worked their way into the game and Wade Graham put in an inch-perfect kick for Sosaia Feki.
And when Chad Townsend went to the line and held up the ball, Holmes streamed through a hole to make it 20-0 at the break.
The Tigers ran in tries to Corey Thompson – who seems to have locked down the fullback role – and Pita Godinet in the second half.
Ivan Cleary’s new-look halves combination of Luke Brooks and Josh Reynolds had a largely quiet night.
A try to Sione Katoa, who once against looked promising on the wing for the Sharks, finished off the win.
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