Quote: djhudds "That was 3 years ago, I’m not for one minute suggesting he won’t be good I’m just confused by the amount of people who appear to have strong opinions on a player who has played very little super league and only half a season of championship, when Ryan brierly joined he had been stand out player in championship, Holmes was going ok for fev but wasn’t dominating at that level yet people are saying how he can control a game, at fev ridyard called the shots not Holmes'"
I've seen every Fev game this year and watched Brierley loads of times and Holmes is definitely a more complete half back than Brierley. He isn't the type of player to back up someone else's break and go 50 yards like Brierley can, and he also doesn't kick goals as far as I'm aware, but he's far better and more natural linking with his three quarters and making sure that passing movements are speedy and flowing, he is far better defensively than Brierley, and better kicking out of hand too.
As for the comparisons with Ridyard, the "calling the shots" comment might literally be true with regard to seniority and making the play calls etc, but at the time he got injured Holmes was second in the Fev supporters' MOTM table on our forum (behind Luke Briscoe, and well in front of Ridyard, who was pretty good himself until he got injured), which is usually a pretty solid guide to how well everyone has played -as I mentioned earlier, Holmes played a big role in Briscoe's record-breaking season down that right-hand side.