VAL HOLMES IN ON SHOT AT MAKING THE NFL
KANGAROOS, Queensland and Cronulla superstar Valentine Holmes is 48 hours away from quitting the NRL to follow the Jarryd Hayne flight path to the NFL.
Holmes recently had secret strength and speed testing at Nike’s global headquarters in Oregon in the US.
He wants to enter the NFL’s international program – the system that helped turn Rabbitohs under-20s rookie Jordan Mailata into an NFL player.
Holmes, who arrived back in Sydney yesterday from an overseas holiday, hadn’t said a word to his coach or his teammates at the Sharks.
“Who said that? Hold on. Can I put you on hold for a sec. I’ve got another call coming through,” Holmes said when quizzed on the matter. He didn’t come back or take another call.
Holmes’ manager Gavin Orr also refused to return calls or text messages.
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan wasn’t happy.
“I’m disappointed we’ve heard about it like this,” Flanagan said.
“I need to eyeball Val or his manager and get to the bottom of it. We obviously want to keep him at the club so I need to talk to them as soon as we can.”
Sharks chief executive Barry Russell has organised a meeting with Orr and Holmes tomorrow to try to get a decision either way.
The NRL says Cronulla is powerless to stop Holmes from chasing his dream in the US even while he is under contract for next year.
Should he go, he faces sacrificing more than $1 million in the short term.