The North Queensland Cowboys are set to issue a strong warning to Valentine Holmes following his off-field drama, eyeing a quadrupling of his fine handed down by the NRL.
The fullback-turned-centre was at the eye of the storm last week after uploading a picture of himself on his Instagram story, displaying a clearly intoxicated Holmes with a drink in his hand, and a small bag of white substance in his mouth.
The picture, which was quickly deleted, brought the game into disarray, resulting in the marquee Cowboy being slapped with a $25,000 fine, and a one-game ban for his antics.
However, The Courier Mail reports that Holmes' misery isn't set to end yet.
The Cowboys are reportedly set to slap the 28-year-old with an additional $75,000 in fines, $50,000 of which is suspended, as a stern warning to the outside back to keep himself in line.
It's already cost the World Cup winner a spot in the Prime Minister's XIII side, and with Mal Meninga's strong 'no d***heads' policy, it could well cost Holmes a spot in the Kangaroos' Pacific Championship side at season's end.
Daly Cherry-Evans threw his support behind Val to bounce back.
“These things you never expect to pop up,” Cherry-Evans told The Courier Mail.
“I never expected that, but people make mistakes, we all make mistakes, and I think Val deserves the benefit of the doubt over many years that he is a good person.
“I still think he is a good person and whatever happened up there, he made a mistake and I'm sure he will get in trouble from the NRL or his club and from there we just move on.
“It's as simple as that.”
The error in judgment won't just cost Holmes $50,000 from his pocket, but a non-selection for Australia would see the centre miss close to $10,000 in earnings for the tournament.
North Queensland CEO Jeff Reibel says a resolution hasn't been finalised as of yet.
“We are yet to reach a resolution,” he said.
“Val was requested to appear before the board and has done that.
“We are now in consideration and will look to finalise in the coming days after we have completed our due diligence.”