Valentine Holmes is a remarkably calm guy. Only six months ago, he delivered the first ever NRL Premiership to the shire; starring for the Sharks in a hard-fought 14-12 victory over the favoured Melbourne Storm. Since then, Holmes earned his first green & gold jersey as part of the Australian representative team, and found time to jet out to Los Angeles to trial for NFL talent scouts. It’s been an intense period of focus, hard work and learning, but the hardest part is yet to come.
The intensity of the Grand Final, 4 Nations Tournament and NFL trials will soon be little more than tiny specks in the rear view as Holmes embraces his next test – moving from the wing to face a long NRL season at fullback. True to his character though, Holmes is ready to run straight into the challenge.
“It's nothing too new,” says Holmes. “In the younger grades I used to play fullback, under 20s, and when I played back home in Townsville, so it's not a new position to me.”
“Every pre-season I've actually trained at fullback. I don't usually train on the wing during pre-season because fullback has always been my number one position. I've always trained there, whether it be with Michael Gordon or Nathan Gardiner there.”
He’s been there before, but rather than transition to his preferred spot with a complacent shrug, Holmes is putting in extra work to focus on the task at hand. It starts in the video room, where Holmes has been studying Billy Slater.
“I watch a lot of video by myself at the club,” Holmes explains. “Because [Slater] hasn't played in a few years, I watch the footage of how he used to play in 2014, 2015. He was real dominant then. At the moment, I tend to watch Darius Boyd. I've been lucky enough to play alongside him and I think he's one of the best fullbacks running around now.”
Holmes is trying to emulate both the running of Slater and the smarts of Darius Boyd, but maintain what is was that made him so special. “I'll keep to my running, but I've been practicing my passing,” he says. The hard work in the pre-season is all preparation for taking on the immense responsibility to not only protect the try line, but to maintain the Sharks’ winning form.
“It's definitely a big role – especially at the Sharks – playing fullback. I've gotta step out of my comfort zone. Considering I'm one of the youngest in the team, it's a big role to step up and to fulfill, because playing fullback, you're pretty much another half. You've gotta be demanding of the ball and know what you're doing in defence. It's just gonna be a lot harder.”
His work ethic is unquestioned, but it wasn’t hard work alone that got the 21 year-old Valentine Holmes so far at such a young age. There’s also the matter of his footwork and speed; natural abilities which were pushed along by focusing on athletics before rugby league.
“It started off with my oldest brother, he did [little athletics]. And then my Dad got all us boys in it. He didn't want to put us in sports too early, so I didn't start playing rugby league until I was 10. I think that was probably the smarter decision. I always loved athletics, in high school I was very competitive. The 100, 200 and long jump, and the relays. I think that's how it started.”
From the humble beginnings in local athletics, Holmes is now known as one of the fastest players in the NRL.
“Our strength and conditioning coach uses GPS and an app, it's pretty precise. He watches the footage and knows how fast we're going. He said I picked up a 10.05 metres per second. So that means 10 seconds over 100 metres. But that's while I was chasing down [Jordan] Rapana,” he says with a laugh.
"I picked up 10.05 metres per second. 10 seconds over 100 metres. But that's while I was chasing down [Jordan] Rapana”
It was his speed that caught the eye of NFL teams, and lead to Holmes jetting out to LA with North Queensland enforcer Jason Taumalolo during the off-season to trial for talent scouts. While the NFL isn’t currently an option for Holmes, his love of the game and desire to continually challenge himself made the trials a great opportunity.
“It was definitely a massive learning curve,” Holmes says of his NFL workout. “I learned a lot over there with Jason. It was a different ball game. It was challenging but we enjoyed it.”
Holmes’ footwork and speed is honed by constant training, which is where the Air Max Vapors come in. “They can fly,” he says of the revolutionary new sneakers. “They're awesome, so light and very stylish.”
Despite eyes right across the world watching for his next move, and having accomplished so much in 2016, Val isn’t letting the bright lights blur his vision for the future. His goals are crystal clear.
“Trying to play consistent at fullback, make the [Australian] side again and try to make Origin, that's my biggest one.” He says assertively. “But for the club, I just want to play consistent each game and try not to make too many errors at the back. I don't wanna lose my spot.”
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