Valentine Holmes has arrived in Wollongong after bringing the curtain down on a five-year stay at North Queensland.
The centre signed with St George Illawarra after a charm offensive from his former premiership-winning mentor, Shane Flanagan, earlier in the year.
Holmes will step into a team that has been labelled as the rank outsiders for next year’s competition, despite a recruitment drive which has seen them bring in the Queensland representative, alongside Damien Cook and Clint Gutherson.
But Holmes was confident that the new-look outfit could prove the doubters wrong, with Flanagan right at the forefront of the charge.
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Valentine Holmes reveals how Shane Flanagan persuaded him to join the Dragons
The flyer revealed that it was the head coach’s desire to reunite with him, and his commitment to rolling out the welcome mat for his wife and family, that ultimately persuaded him to join the club.
"He flew up to see me while it was still in the season and he was coaching - he didn't have to do that," Holmes recalled.
"That showed how keen and interested he was in me. Flanno went out of his way to talk to me and he also wanted to talk to my wife to get her on board first. To see him do that was pretty good.
"She’s very family-orientated and she’s from Townsville, so it was an important conversation we needed to have."
However, the Dragons are a vastly different proposition than when Homes initially put pen to paper, following Ben Hunt’s departure.
Holmes admitted that while he was excited by the fresh beginning, he also felt slightly disappointed at the exit of the former skipper before they had the opportunity to combine.
The duo have played together multiple times at rep level for the Maroons and Australia with the 29-year-old revealing he was looking forward to enjoying the fruits of their partnership in the NRL for the first time.
"I spoke to Benny while I was in discussions with it all," Holmes said.
"But you’re not making a decision on your future based around just one player.
"He would have obviously been really good to play alongside.
"I know what a quality player he is, so I was hoping he’d be here…But it is what it is, we’ve signed Lachlan Ilias who’s a strong, good young half."
