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Holmes on Cleary bomb watch at Penrith

Cronulla fullback Valentine Holmes will keep a watchful eye on Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary on Sunday, trying to find a way to defuse his swirling bombs.

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Source: AAP


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Cronulla fullback Valentine Holmes has spent a week watching Nathan Cleary's high-floating bombs.

Now he just has to catch them come Easter Sunday at Pepper Stadium.

Cleary wreaked havoc last week for Penrith against South Sydney, almost guiding the Panthers to a come-from-behind win off his own boot.

He had former under-20s teammate Braidon Burns in a real panic, and regularly forced errors at the wrong end for the Rabbitohs.

"That's the first thing we looked at is his floaters," Holmes said.

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"He's the one that does most the kicking. I will just be watching him most the game and see where he goes."

Holmes is now just three games into his full-time shift to fullback, and he admits he is still learning on the run.

He was thrust into the role earlier than expected following Ben Barba's summer departure, but a bad hamstring ruled him out of two trials and the opening rounds.

He has since worked hard with Sharks assistant and former St George Illawarra coach Steve Price, and is starting to get a feel for the position in the NRL.

"It's a lot harder than when I was playing in the juniors," Holmes said.

"It's a bit more physical and a lot more demanding with the forwards when you're on the defensive lines."

It hasn't shown in his performances though.

Despite his try-scoring rate from last year on the wing going down, Holmes is getting through more work than Barba did last season and is just as potent in attack.

"I feel like I'm getting better," he said.

"I probably wouldn't say I'm at my peak yet. It's a long season, it's only round seven this week.

"I want to try and get to it soon though.

"I still haven't really done much out the back in good ball areas. I want to try and open up in those areas and be really dominant there."


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