Hot Holmes has Sharks in box seat for finals

VALENTINE Holmes will enter the finals as arguably the hottest player in the NRL after spearheading Cronulla to a 30-18 win over Canterbury in their NRL season finale.

Holmes scored a try and set up three others in a performance that had Bulldogs coach Dean Pay comparing him to retiring champion Billy Slater.

“Billy’s retiring and someone’s got to take that mantle,” Pay said yesterday.

“These sort of players, for what he has done, he’s up there with the top players.”

Sharks coach Shane Flanagan stopped short of crowning Holmes the game’s form player but admitted he needed his star fullback to continue his purple patch in the finals.

“He’s definitely in form in our team. Not quite sure about the whole competition, there’s some good players going around,” Flanagan said.

“(But) we need him in form. You need players like that if you’re going to go along in the semi-finals to rely on to score those tries, make a break, do something special.”

Holmes’ efforts – he also had two line-break assists and ran for more than 100m – have coincided with the Sharks’ four-game winning streak.

No other finals contenders have more confidence than the 2016 champions, who will face the Sydney Roosters in next week’s qualifying final.

The Bulldogs stayed within striking distance for most of the contest at ANZ Stadium, led by Will Hopoate’s 218m, 12 tackle busts and a try.

But Holmes had an answer for every Bulldogs attack.