Good to be Holmes: How star centre has found new lease on life in Townsville

After years of constant change, North Queensland centre Valentine Holmes says he's finally feeling settled in Townsville and thriving on the responsibility of helping guide a young Cowboys side to their first finals series in five years.

Holmes will return to PointsBet Stadium for the first time on Saturday since departing the club in 2018 to try his luck in the NFL, a move which sparked significant change in his life as a stint with the New York Jets in 2019 was followed by a return back to the NRL the following year.

Throw in arriving to a new club, a COVID pandemic, constant positional changes, goal-kicking duties and becoming a dad in the last 12 months, Holmes has had to reinvent himself since return to the game in 2020, but said the extra responsibilities and change have shaped his superb season in the state's north.

“It was a fun journey when I went over there for a year, it was a challenge when I came back but obviously returning to my hometown helped,” Holmes told NRL.com after Saturday night’s win against the Panthers.

“My mum and dad are here, my wife and kid are here and I started playing my junior footy here so I guess this is where it all started for me.

“To come back here and play in the NRL for the Cowboys here is just unreal. And the centre position -  I've kind of made it my own.

“It definitely was a challenge at the start of the year, I’ve never played there before at an elite level like this.”

The 27-year-old has undoubtedly been one of the Cowboys' strongest players this season, with his defensive awareness and decision-making proving a major asset to a young side that struggled in both attack and defence on the flanks last year.

Holmes capped off a brilliant regular season with a 56-minute stint against the Panthers that featured a hat-trick of tries, a try assist, two line-breaks, two line-break assists, eight tackle breaks and 183 running metres.

His 18-point haul, which included three conversions, cemented the Queensland Origin star as the 2022 NRL top points scorer, with 224 points in 22 appearances for the Cowboys this season.

"I've tried not to think about it too much, but it is pretty cool," Holmes said.

"I’ve never really been in the running for that kind of thing before I guess because I haven't goal kicked until the past few years but it’s a great accolade to add what I’m doing at the moment.

"But all the credit pretty much goes to the boys. I’m doing the kicking but it’s always a team effort."

While Holmes always remained one of the classiest backline players in the game, the Maroons representative credits his increased maturity and awareness in setting him up for success in phase two of his NRL career.

“I think one thing I learnt going over to the Jets in the NFL is just how to prepare for games and how to take on games. I think I definitely have learnt some maturity in that sense,” he said.

“I’m 27 now so I am getting older, I think I’ve got a few greys coming through.

“I can’t seem to crack the leadership group yet, but I am a bit older and I’ve played a few games so that's something I'm aiming for.

“That’s the good thing about our team; we’ve got really good leaders like Jason [Taumalolo], Chaddy [Townsend] and Macca [Jordan McLean] and then we’ve got some younger guys that love to have fun.”

With the Cowboys heading to Cronulla to face the Sharks in the opening weekend of the finals, the star centre will find himself on familiar turf.

Holmes played 105 games for the Sharks, scoring 64 tries and winning a premiership in 2016 alongside North Queensland skipper Chad Townsend.

“It’s a funny thing, I even remember when we were at Sharks we always seemed to play the Cowboys in a pretty big game at the end of the year and it was always a good game that came down to the wire,” he said.

“Obviously, Chad and I won a premiership there in 2016 and have a lot of mates still there. We’ve got two bites of the cherry now but it should be a good contest.”

“That’s our game plan, try to win the game early and score the points later.”