Be like AJ: Bennett's advice for returning Holmes
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Wayne Bennett has outlined the template Valentine Holmes needs to follow when he plays fullback for the Maroons for the first time on Wednesday night.
The Maroons received a huge boost on Tuesday when Adelaide hero Kurt Capewell trained at the captain's run session and was passed fit to play after overcoming a groin injury.
Holmes played the last of his five State of Origin games on July 11, 2018, and will line up in the No.1 jersey for the first time with the Maroons.
The foot injury suffered by AJ Brimson in the 18-14 win in game one has opened the door for Holmes and Bennett said he didn’t need the 2016 premiership winner to overplay his hand.
"We all know what a good athlete Val is and we have seen him play some really good football as well," Bennett said.
Bennett confident he could juggle club and Origin duties in 2021
"He probably hasn’t played for six weeks. If he keeps it simple that will be his best chance.
"He will want to prove a lot of things but I don’t need him to do that. He is very talented and missed last week only through a suspension.
"So he just needs to be that guy out there at fullback like AJ was last week where he played mistake-free and had a wonderful game."
Bennett said he wanted his side to improve on their Adelaide performance in terms of execution.
He has already got the best out of Game One man of the match Daly Cherry-Evans.
Match: Blues v Maroons
Game 2 -
home Team
Blues
away Team
Maroons
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
"I like working with him and he was really good today working with the players. He did something like [35] tackles last week and not many missed," Bennett said.
"He is not the biggest guy on the field so I hope they keep running at him tomorrow night because he certainly showed he could handle that part of it."
The elevation of Rabbitohs back-rower Jaydn Su’A to the starting side will also give Queensland more grunt in defence.
"I think we all know how he defends and how good he is at it. It was a timely change for him," Bennett said.
"I put him on the interchange bench last week and I thought after he came on he was handling things pretty good so I thought he was worth a start this week."
With Christian Welch out of the ANZ Stadium clash due to concussion, Bennett has given Raiders prop Dunamis Lui his Maroon debut alongside clubmate Josh Papalii.
Bennett said Papalii, asides from having "a mullet haircut he was lucky to get away with", was the ideal man for Lui to have alongside him.
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"He has a calmness around him. He is a good pro who knows what he has got to do and will get the job done without any fuss," he said.
"They have both played together at Canberra and I thought that would help Dunamis get through the first period of the game playing with Josh.
"I was also happy with the interchange players [in Adelaide] and I didn’t want to change their role either."
The only other addition to the interchange bench is Titans prop Moeaki Fotuaika.
"He doesn’t talk much. I like him," Bennett quipped.
“He is just a footballer player with good footwork. He’s strong, tough, carries the ball well and gets around the field well without making silly errors and being in the wrong place when he shouldn’t be.”
The Maroons coach knows new NSW five-eighth Cody Walker well and he will be closely marked.
"He is quite a handful. I love him as a player and he is a great player to coach so we will have to be on our game," Bennett said.
Blues v Maroons - Origin II
"Su’A has trained against him for two years now and Gags [Dane Gagai] has been with him longer. They are both playing on the side he is coming down so he will challenge them."
Playing at ANZ Stadium holds no fears for Bennett's men.
"I don’t struggle down there so I don’t know why they will struggle," Bennett said.
"Five or six of them played in the grand final down there and four of them were in the winning team so they don’t struggle."
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