Red-hot Holmes is No.1 with a bullet at Sharks
Valentine Holmes has finally made the Cronulla No.1 jersey his own, forcing coach Shane Flanagan to play Josh Dugan in the centres when he returns from injury.
Two nights after his brilliant performance for Queensland, Holmes bagged another double for the Sharks in their 24-12 win over Penrith and almost busted through the defence on three other occasions.
Holmes was keen to play fullback at the start of the year but lasted just one game before he was flicked for Dugan. Even Matt Moylan was given a spin at the back.
Holmes remained stranded on the wing, which fuelled talk of him leaving for North Queensland, who need a new fullback.
Dugan returned to fullback in round 12 but has been sidelined since and will not return for Friday's home game against Canberra.
Flanagan could not be happier with Holmes' recent form. Dugan, meanwhile, could be up to another three weeks away.
Kurt Capewell will also miss up to a month after breaking his thumb against the Panthers. Capewell suffered the injury early in the match but played the entire game.
As for Dugan, Flanagan told Fairfax Media: "He's had a stress fracture in his lower leg.It happened about six or seven weeks ago, and because it's a non-weight bearing bone, there's not a lot of blood circulation through it and it takes time.
"He definitely won't be right for Canberra next week, but hopefully the week after.
"He's back running but still getting pain from it, and we had to back off.
"We want to make sure when he does come back he'll be right. It could be two weeks, maybe three.
"When he does come back it will be in the centres.
"Val has done a good job there. He was good for us Friday night, and to play 48 hours after Origin, and to play the way he did, it shows his maturity. He probably wouldn't have done that 12 months ago because his head still would have been spinning.
"He's played a lot of rep footy and played for his country now. He's only young, but it shows how much he's matured.''
Speaking about the Cowboys speculation, Flanagan said: "Val won't be going anywhere. Over my dead body I'll be letting him go anywhere.
"He's also comfortable where he is. We're in negotiations about extending his deal, and he wants to look at that.''
Holmes said fullback was the position he wanted, despite reminding the rugby league world yet again on Wednesday night why he is one of the best wingers in the game.
Holmes is contracted until the end of 2019 and said: "I'm sticking to my contract. I won't break anything there, and then I'll see how I go.
"My partner was born up there, I was born there, obviously it would be nice if we could go back, but I've still got a couple of more years [at Cronulla].''
Meanwhile, Penrith's James Tamou conceded Cronulla baited rivals better than any other team and he needed to be more disciplined for the tough road trip to Brisbane.
Tempers flared again in Friday night's latest clash between Cronulla and Penrith, including Andrew Fifita and Jack Hetherington coming together in the tunnel at half-time. Tamou and Wade Graham also exchanged heated words.
"He baited me and I ate it up,'' Tamou said of Graham.
"I fell for every part of it. He's good at what he does. He got me good. The scoreboard reflected how I reacted.''
Source
