Valentine Holmes joins North Queensland Cowboys on six-year contract

Drew Darbyshire 27 Nov 2019 12:21 PM

North Queensland Cowboys have signed Valentine Holmes with immediate effect on a six-year deal.

The 24-year-old full-back or winger played 105 NRL games for Cronulla Sharks between 2014-18, scoring 66 tries. He earned 13 caps for Australia and played five games for Queensland.

Holmes left rugby league at the end of last season to have a crack in the NFL – but he was recently released by the New York Jets after spending some time in their practice squad.

Cowboys director of football, Peter Parr, said: “It wasn’t long ago that Valentine was one of the best players in the competition before his courageous decision to go to the NFL.

“His form in 2018 was as good as any player in the NRL, particularly in the second half of that season.

“He’s a proven big game player, he’s won a Grand Final and he’s played some terrific football for both Queensland and Australia.

“Valentine has been a top class performer at wing and full-back and we’ve made no secret we had a desire to strengthen our outside-back stocks.

“Val’s record speaks for itself and we couldn’t be more excited about securing him at the Cowboys for the next six seasons.”

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