At the end of the 2018 season Valentine Holmes sent shock-waves through the Rugby League world when announcing he was moving to the United States to pursue a career in the NFL.

In April of 2019 the 24-year-old signed with the New York Jets and would play in three preseason games before being cut from the franchise’s final roster.

This would lead to months of speculation as to what exactly Holmes would do next and we would get our answer on the 24th of November 2019 as it was announced he had signed a six-year-deal with the North Queensland Cowboys.

The former Australian International has played now played two NRL games for the Townsville based club receiving mixed reviews.

One person who has criticised the Queenslander is Channel 9 commentator and former player/coach Phil Gould, who recently spoke out on the Wide World Of Sports’ Six Tackles with Gus Podcast.

“We’ve always thought that [he was a winger], everyone has, the only one that hasn’t is Valentine himself. He and his management wanted to sell him as a fullback, because you get more money as a fullback.” he said

Since his return Holmes has assisted two line breaks, gotten two try assists, scored one and averaged 149.5 running metres per game.

While this certainly isn’t one of the greatest starts to a season it’s a respectable one considering the fullback has not played an NRL game since September 2018.

It’s important that we remember this fact as realistically it will take Holmes time to find his feet and re-adjust to playing Rugby League.

He is a class athlete with an abundance of natural talent. It will certainly be interesting to see how he progresses from this point, but given the time he will match it with the best of them.