Holmes coming: How Val connected with his Cook Islands heritage

After playing 21 Tests for Australia, Valentine Holmes admits it will be an emotional occasion when he makes his homecoming appearance in a Cook Islands jersey against the Kangaroos on Saturday night.

Holmes fulfilled a long-held ambition to represent his mum’s Cook Islands heritage and the island of Mangaia’s tiny population last Sunday against the Kiwis.

However, to the opportunity to perform the Pe'e with his former Test team-mates standing in opposition at Townsville's Queensland Country Bank Stadum will hold special significance.

“It’s a bit wild to be playing against the Aussies, who I played a fair bit of footy with. But just to do it in my hometown in Townsville to verse those guys, it's going to be pretty special,” he said.

“Obviously I'll see my family, my mum and dad there, and it’ll probably sink in more then.”

The Dragons star’s mother Lucy was born on Mangaia – the oldest island in the Pacific and the most southern of the 15 islands that make up Cook Islands - but grew up in New Zealand after her parents moved in pursuit of employment opportunities and a better life for their family.

Holmes still has links to Mangaia as Lucy’s parents could not afford to take all 12 children with them to New Zealand and some stayed to be raised by uncles and aunties.

That connection was rekindled during a trip to Cook Islands for a family wedding and Holmes has been planning to switch his international allegiances from Australia, for whom he has played 21 Tests and won two World Cups.

“It's been something that I’ve been thinking about for a while,” Holmes said.

“I've been talking about it with my family - particularly my mum - and they're all obviously very proud of what I've done in the game, and proud of me for putting our family name on the map, but to wear that Green, Gold and White jersey of the Cook Islands jersey that’s another thing for proud Cook Islanders.

“I managed to crack 20 Tests for Australia, which I was happy with, and after the 2023 season I decided I was going to play for Cook Island the following year but I broke my leg so that put it on hold and last year I had shoulder surgery so that put it on hold.”   

Holmes has a large Mangaian-inspired tattoo on his left shoulder, chest and bicep but he didn’t have a strong interest in his Cook Islands heritage while growing up in Townsville.

Like many other players of Pasifika heritage, the decision by Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita to switch allegiances from New Zealand and Australia to Tonga at the 2017 World Cup inspired Holmes to consider playing for the Aitu.

“That changed the international game and a lot of boys have followed them, whether that is with Tonga, Samoa, Fiji or Cook Islands,” Holmes said.

“The Aussies and Kiwis got paid a lot more for Tests or if they won the World Cup so that showed it wasn’t about the cash, but more because they wanted to make their families proud by playing for their heritage and what it means to them.

“I was born and raised in Australia, and it was hard for my mum to keep the culture going because she had moved away from her family in the Cook Islands or in New Zealand.

“But as I was getting older, I have seen a lot of fellow NRL players representing their heritage so it’s something I’ve wanted to do.”

Holmes has been making regular visits to Cook Islands in recent years and has taken a growing interest in his family history.

“It is a fascinating story,” he said. “There’s probably 400 or 500 people who live in Mangaia, but when my mum was young there wasn’t many and they used to just live off the land or the sea.

“She is one of 12 and they moved to New Zealand when she was pretty young but her mum and dad couldn’t take all of the kids, so four or six had to stay back.

“It’s just what the normal thing was; her family wanted to give her more of an opportunity. It is the same in Tonga and Samoa, I heard a few stories at our cultural day (at the Dragons) from a few of the boys. It happened with their parents.

“I wanted to learn more about it and I have been going back to Cook Islands almost every year now – not just because of that - it’s a beautiful place. I’m going over there again this year after the World Cup to do some footy clinics.”

Named at fullback against the Kangaroos, Holmes played most of his Test career with Australia on the wing and holds the record for the most tries in a World Cup match - six against Fiji in the 2017 semi-final.

He scored five the week before against Samoa and is just two tries behind Billy Slater's record of 16 World Cup tries.

Despite finishing on the wrong end of an 82-16 scoreline against the Kiwis, Holmes was proud to have debuted for Cook Islands in Christchurch and believes the Karmichael Hunt-coached team has a bright future.

"It was definitely a dream come true for me, to make my mum proud and all my family and all the cousins proud back home in Cook Islands," he said.

"I was really happy with the first 20-30 minutes, we put it to the Kiwis and really tested them, but with the team they’ve got, we knew it was going to be a tough task to keep going for 80 minutes. But I couldn't be more prouder of the boys.

“We’re never to get a team like the Aussies or Kiwis have at the moment, but when you get people do what KL Iro has done and Tinirau Arona and Brad Takairangi before him – those boys probably set the mark for the Cook Islands and now we’ve got the younger generation coming through.

"It’s a blessing to play in the World Cup, for any team, but to play against the top two teams is pretty cool. For a lot of these boys they are probably their idols, so it's pretty good to rub shoulders against them.

"For me, it's weird how things turn out. To play Australia in my hometown, I’m looking forward to it."