North Queensland star Valentine Holmes will miss the opening fixture of the upcoming Origin series after accepting an early guilty plea for a grade one shoulder charge suspension.
The Cowboys confirmed the decision on their website, with Holmes accepting the one-match ban for his shoulder charge on Bronco Jesse Arthars.
Holmes decided not to appeal the suspension, with the risk of missing two matches outweighing the chance of being allowed to play in the series opener.
Queensland already have Holmes' Cowboys teammates Michael Morgan and Kyle Feldt sidelined though injury, withย Maroons coach Kevin Walters now having to dive deep into his back line stocks for Game 1 of the November series.
1. Kayln Ponga
2. Corey Oates
3. Kurt Mann
4. Phillip Sami
5. Dane Gagai
Would be an incredibly weak backline for us.
I think Mann should play at centre. Heโs been excellent this year in the halves and has lately covered hooker but originally he played centre at the Storm and Dragons. Heโs scored 6 tries and has 8 try assists. On the other side Iโve decided to go with young Sami pairing Gagai. Iโve chosen Sami because his size and youth. Think against a strong blues backline we will need a big back on either side. Sami at 23 also I think will have more of a future worth developing than playing Moses Mbye or Corey Thompson
Gagai just misses out due to wanting to titans teammates however I wouldnโt be