Valentine Holmes


Valentine Holmes is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League. A or er, he is an Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative. He began his career with the Cronulla Sharks, with whom he won the 2016 NRL Premiership. In 2019, he made a switch to the National Football League, spending several months on the New York Jets' practice squad.

Background

Holmes was born in Townsville, Queensland on 24 July 1995 to a Cook Islands mother and a Māori father.
He played his junior rugby league in Townsville for the Western Lions, before being signed by National Rugby League club, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, in 2012 at the age of 17. Holmes moved to Sydney in 2013 to play for the Sharks' SG Ball Cup team. Later that year, he made his debut for the Sharks NYC team, scoring 17 tries in 10 games and played representative rugby league for the Queensland Under 18s team. In September 2013, Holmes, whose father is from New Zealand, was named in the 2013 Junior Kiwis train-on squad. In December 2013, Holmes was named in the 2014 Queensland Academy of Sport Under 20s Emerging Origin squad.

Rugby league career

2014

In February, Holmes was selected in the Sharks Auckland Nines squad. He played for the Queensland Under 20s team at in the 30–8 loss to the Under 20s New South Wales team at Penrith Stadium. In Round 21, Holmes made his NRL debut for the Sharks against the Parramatta Eels on the in the 32–12 loss at Remondis Stadium filling in for Sosaia Feki who succumbed to an injury before the match. On 6 August, he extended his contract with the Sharks from the end of 2015, to the end of 2017. In Round 23 against the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park, Holmes scored his first NRL try in the 6–48 loss. Holmes finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 6 matches and scoring 3 tries. Holmes was named at wing in the 2014 NYC Team of the Year.
On 8 September, Holmes was named in the 2014 Junior Kangaroos train-on squad. A day later he was named in the New Zealand Kiwis train-on squad for the 2014 Four Nations. On 12 September, he pledged his allegiance to Australia. On 18 October, Holmes played on the wing for the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis at Mt Smart Stadium, scoring two tries in the 14–15 loss.

2015

Holmes played for the Sharks in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines. On 2 May, he again played on the wing for the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis, scoring a try and kicking 1 goal in the 22-20 win. In Round 10 against the Gold Coast Titans, he kicked a field goal to win the match for the Sharks in their 23-22 golden-point extra-time victory at Cbus Super Stadium. In Round 19 against the Canberra Raiders, he repeated his efforts, kicking another field goal in extra-time to win the match 21-20. He finished off the season as the Sharks' highest try-scorer with 16 tries, as well as kicking 11 goals and 3 field goals in 25 matches.

2016

Holmes was selected in the QAS Emerging Maroons squad, but on 31 January, while in the Emerging Maroons camp, he broke curfew and was fined for public nuisance and obstructing Queensland Police. The QRL announced he would be excluded from its representative programs for the next 12 months. He was then stood down from the Sharks' 2016 NRL Auckland Nines squad after previously being named. In Round 10 against the Newcastle Knights, he scored 4 tries in the Sharks 62-0 win. Holmes was part of the squad which won the NRL Grand Final, 14-12 against the Melbourne Storm. Holmes finished the season playing 23 games and scoring 19 tries, once again the Sharks highest try scorer. Holmes was later selected for the Australian test side to face New Zealand on the 15 of November. Holmes scored a try on debut for the Australians in his side's 26-6 win.

2017

Holmes was selected to play for Australia in the 2017 ANZAC Test. Later that season, he was selected to make his State of Origin debut for Queensland in Game II, scoring a try. He was then selected in Game III, where he scored three tries.
After being named in Australia's 2017 Rugby League World Cup squad, Holmes set a Test and World Cup record by scoring five tries in the quarter-final against Samoa in Darwin. Only a week later, he broke his own record by scoring six tries in the semi-final against Fiji at Suncorp Stadium. He set another record by scoring a total of twelve tries throughout the World Cup.

2018

In round 12 of the 2018 NRL season against the Newcastle Knights, Holmes scored a hat trick of tries in the Sharks' 48-10 win at Hunter Stadium. At the season's conclusion, Holmes was the second highest try-scorer and lead the season in highest amount of line-breaks. At the end of the season, Holmes won the Monty Porter Medal for Player of the Year and the Tommy Bishop Player's Player Award.
In November 2018, Holmes was released from his contract with the Cronulla Sharks in the National Rugby League to chase his dream to one day play in the National Football League. Two years earlier, Holmes and North Queensland Cowboys forward Jason Taumalolo attended NFL trials in Los Angeles, with fifteen NFL teams expressing interest in both.

2020

On 24 November 2019, Holmes returned to rugby league, signing a six-year deal with the North Queensland Cowboys, beginning in 2020.
In Round 1 of the 2020 NRL season, he made his debut for the Cowboys in their 21–28 loss to the Brisbane Broncos. He scored the team's first try in the game, becoming the first Cowboys player to score a try at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

Achievements and accolades

Individual

NRL

†Denotes seasons in which Holmes won an NRL Premiership

International

State of Origin

American football career

In April of 2019, Holmes was signed by the New York Jets as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway program. He made appearances in the New York Jets preseason against the New York Giants on 9 August, carrying 3 times for 6 yards and receiving 3 times for 30 yards. Then the Atlanta Falcons on 15 August carrying 3 times for 3 yards. He did not play in the third game against the New Orleans Saints. In the fourth game against the Philadelphia Eagles he made 5 receptions for 55 yards. He was waived by the Jets during final roster cuts, but was added to the Jets' practice squad on September 1, 2019, as an exempt international player. He was released on November 22, 2019.