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Valentine Holmes has admitted he expected to be overlooked for the Kangaroos squad following his controversial social media post featuring a white bag.
Holmes was not only included in Mal Meninga’s Pacific Championships squad, but is set to make a start against the Kiwis on Saturday after serving his one-match ban.
The 27-year-old was tight-lipped about the exact contents of the bag when speaking publicly about the incident for the first time, but opened up on the impact it had on his family.
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“I had some tough talks with the family, my side of the family and my wife’s side of the family,” he said.
“It was a tough couple of days for a bit there. You’ve just got to move on, move forward and learn from it. Just be better … You never take anything for granted in life, especially what we do as footy players.
“You don’t know when our last game could be or what could happen outside of footy. To be able to wear this training jersey for Australia alongside some of the great players in our game, it’s a privilege to even be here.”
Holmes said he was ready to repay the faith shown in him by Meninga when he takes the field.
Watch the Kangaroos take on Samoa and New Zealand in the 2023 Pacific Championships on Nine and 9Now
“I didn’t think he’d select me,” he said.
“Obviously, I’d been doing a lot of training, it’s just the games I’ve been missing out on; it’s been almost 10 or 11 weeks since I’ve played footy.
“To see the trust he has instilled in me to pull on this jersey in this game, especially for this one, my next one is my 20th Test and it’s a pretty big milestone for me.”
