It wasn't quite vintage Valentine Holmes.
But North Queensland coach Paul Green has warned the former Cronulla premiership winner's best is not far away.
Holmes finally blew off the rust to produce his best game since his 2019 NFL sojourn, setting up three tries in the Cowboys' 36-6 NRL rout of Gold Coast on Friday night.
There were no runaway tries or breathtaking runs that Holmes almost seemed to conjure at will before he left the Sharks at the height of his powers in 2018 to chase his NFL dream.
But Green saw enough to suggest it wouldn't be long before his fullback would be again living up to his NRL superstar status.
"His involvements were better again, so if he can keep improving I think eventually we will see the old Val Holmes," Green said.
"He's not far off."
After returning from his ill fated NFL stint, Holmes failed to live up to overwhelming expectation in his first two games for North Queensland, marring flashes of brilliance with simple errors.
But Green warned before the round-three clash that the eight week coronavirus shutdown had benefited Holmes, with the Queensland flyer relishing the time out of the spotlight to work on his game.
And Holmes soon proved it was no idle threat, producing a polished display in Townsville on Friday night.
He set up both of winger Ben Hampton's tries with deft passes before a wonderful tap on for Kyle Feldt to score in the dying moments to complete the rout.
Apart from his try assists, Holmes ran 113m.
Green said he knew it was only a matter of time before Holmes came good at fullback.
"I was confident it was going to work for him, he's a class player," he said.
"It's just getting used to getting back playing again.
"He just needed to tidy up some of those basic errors which he had earlier in the year and they weren't there (against Titans) - that's what we expected from him."
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/holmes-best-not-far-off-cowboys-coach/cbc3c91e-cf31-476c-a4ee-bc1cd6555738
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