RUGBY LEAGUE
LAST season saw Valentine Holmes emerge as a future rugby league superstar.
What will scare rival NRL teams - and excite Cronulla fans - is that the 20-year-old is planning to go even better in 2016.
It has been a meteoric rise for Holmes, who had only played six NRL games before the start of last season, and wasn’t even in Cronulla’s first grade team for round one.
But match-winning performances against the Gold Coast in round 10 and the Warriors in round 21 cemented his place as a fan favourite at Shark Park.
Along with Jack Bird, Holmes is a player Cronulla fans want to see the club build the team around.
And while he was happy with his performances last season, Holmes is hoping the future will be even brighter.
‘‘At the moment I just want to keep improving,’’ he said.
‘‘It was a really good year [but] I can’t wait for next year. It should be fun.’’
Recent reports suggesting Holmes was agitating for a move to fullback appear to be wide of the mark, with Holmes telling The Leader his only immediate goal was making the starting team for round one against North Queensland.
‘‘I don’t really mind where I play, as long as I play,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m still young and learning, hopefully rep [football] will come later.
‘‘I’ve got plenty of time for all that.
‘‘I just want to play every week and play well for the Sharks.’’
Holmes said pre-season had been the toughest he’d endured and that the new faces in the squad were fitting in well.
‘‘It’s tough, I’m enjoying it but it’s been pretty tough,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s probably my hardest [pre-season] so far that I’ve done.
‘‘But I love it and it’s good to see the new boys that have just joined [like] Chaddy [Townsend], James Maloney and a few of the other boys.
‘‘They’re fitting in really well and they’re handling all the change really well.
‘‘They look like they’ve been here forever already.’’
The Sharks were impressive for most of last season but Holmes said the players were keen to avoid a repeat of their poor start which saw them lose their opening four games.
‘‘It’s a good team, maybe even a better team [than last year],’’ he said.
‘‘I think the boys are all keen to get the season started off and get a roll on early.
‘‘Hopefully we can finish off one step further.’’