It wasn’t quite vintage Valentine Holmes, but North Queensland coach Paul Green has warned the former Cronulla premiership winner’s best is not far away.
Holmes finally blew off the rust to produce his best game since his 2019 NFL sojourn, setting up three tries in the Cowboys’ 36-6 rout of Gold Coast on Friday night.
There were no runaway tries or breathtaking runs that Holmes almost seemed to conjure at will before he left the Sharks at the height of his powers in 2018 to chase his NFL dream.
But Green saw enough to suggest it wouldn’t be long before his fullback would be again living up to his NRL superstar status.
“His involvements were better again, so if he can keep improving I think eventually we will see the old Val Holmes,” Green said.
“He’s not far off.”
(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
After returning from his ill fated NFL stint, Holmes failed to live up to overwhelming expectation in his first two games for North Queensland, marring flashes of brilliance with simple errors.
But Green warned before the Round 3 clash that the eight-week coronavirus shutdown had benefited Holmes, with the Queensland flyer relishing the time out of the spotlight to work on his game.
And Holmes soon proved it was no idle threat, producing a polished display in Townsville on Friday night.
He set up both of winger Ben Hampton’s tries with deft passes before a wonderful tap on for Kyle Feldt to score in the dying moments to complete the rout.
Apart from his try assists, Holmes ran 113 metres.
Green said he knew it was only a matter of time before Holmes came good at fullback.
“I was confident it was going to work for him, he’s a class player,” he said.
“It’s just getting used to getting back playing again.
“He just needed to tidy up some of those basic errors which he had earlier in the year and they weren’t there (against Titans) – that’s what we expected from him.”
Rob
Guest
Well I hope Val is not being asked to defend too much Jimmmy. Racing up and in at attackers is part of good wing defence but it's probably very different at fullback. A perfect example was Hodgeson backing off Rauhihi in 2005 GF and going to Bowen allowing his cover to cut Rauhihi down from behind. Hodgeson was never coming toward Rauhihi because he knew if he committed and raced up on him Bowen was going in under the posts. Certainly a good fullback makes smart decisions and makes it very hard for teams to get the ball into the in goal unopposed.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
Absolutely Rob. 50 % of the game is D. Slater was the best defensive FB I have ever seen and 90% of his greatness was his positioning. Don't worry Val will get better. If he can get his positioning right and ups his work rate he will be a superstar.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
I reckon Green is thinking its a bit early for Robson to play 80 and he doesn't want to burn 2 interchanges on hooker so play Jake for 30 and Robson does the rest. The problem here is we get Jakes poor passing for the first 30 mins of the match and it's also not the ideal time for him to be running the footy. I would go Robson 25mins, Jake 25 then Robson 30. When Jake comes on i would tell him to 'run, Forest , run. ' I would reduce Jake as Robson gets fitter, tougher. Gee I'd make a good coach.
Rob
Guest
He’s a very average defender especially front on. I worry he gets caught going straight at players instead of giving them a side line and cutting them down from the side. Backing off and sheep dogging opponents to a sideline is vital in fullback defending. The sideline is a great help when you are the last man looking for help. The sideline doesn’t miss a tackle and it’s no win for an attacker if he get near it. Val’s miss on Fifita was an indication that he needs to improve his positioning in the fullback role.
Rob
Guest
I thought it was Drinkwater playing Russian roulette with a Pearson interception? Holmes is delivering exactly what he was signed for, points, catching and returning the football. He’s got some improving in defence and support play to be at his best. Granville is under pressure and he might be losing his starting spot to Robson in the coming rounds. Robson appeared to be the catalyst for an improvement in attack. I thought Dunn and Hess will be a good pairing in the back row with the game becoming faster. Hess needs more ball running back through the middle and maybe McGuire a little less. Clifford and Drinkwater are a good mix. Clifford was very good and composed with his game last night and I would love to see him touching the ball a little more also. The last little wrap play is something he should be doing more often IMO. His kicking game really kept the pressure on the Titans for long periods.
Nat
Roar Guru
Drinkwater is definitely the latter. Although he did seem to get fixed on that floater yesterday. Do you consider starting Robson now? Or maybe sooner before Jake gets tired?
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
Yeah, look we scored three trys from his passes so its a little rich to complain but we can't get back into formula play. Better teams will kill us. Drinkwater was pretty good but he butchered two real opportunities by looking for the floating cut out to the winger when the short ball to ONeill was on. Even their winger Pearson knew exactly what he would do. A smarter player would have gone short or kicked in behind. It's what separates key position players . Some have a ' plan ' and follow it to the end. Some have an ' idea ' and change it quickly when circumstances don't suit. Oh and don't worry about the Broncs. Nothing went their way on Thurs. Six agains, penalties, errors all added up and they were gassed. Won't happen next time. Still to fight for a top four.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
I agree his D is not where it needs to be but it is getting better. The two sides of defense are positioning and technique. The thing is if you get the positioning right the tackle becomes easier to make. Val can tackle but he is not in the right spots often enough. He will get there I am sure.
Nat
Roar Guru
His touches were nice. The cut out to Hampton was gettiing predictable and I doubt Fergo/Toupou would miss them like Pearson did. I hope he doesn't get caught up with the ball playing aspect of the position, he's got to think run first. Drinkwater is good to watch. Everything is done at pace and he has a deft touch.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
No one doubts his genius ability with the ball..but his defence is still abysmal. Titans half back Fogarty, smallest bloke on the field, went through him without even trying to put on a step from 15 meters out..and that hasnt changed since Week 1. Peeked at his defence stats at half time last night and it wasn’t pretty reading. He’s beautiful to watch but his defence coaches, where’s Trevor Gilmeister , need to put some long hours in with him.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
Holmes was always going to be successful. I really can't believe anyone could doubt that. He is still a few games away from his top though. He needs to make sure he is there every time a forward makes a half break. That's the one big difference atm between him and Teddy or Turbo Tom . When he gets fitter there is no excuse . He must be the one on the spot.