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Force return saves Wallabies prop from 'early' retirement
By AAP
Former Wallabies prop Greg Holmes admits he was considering retirement before being lured to the Western Force for a fairytale Australian homecoming.
Holmes carved out a decorated career over 11 years at the Queensland Reds from 2005, notching 144 Super Rugby games and 27 Test caps along the way.
The 37-year-old has spent the past four years in England playing for the Exeter Chiefs, but thought his professional career was over when he failed to get a visa renewal just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Thoughts of retirement loomed before a call from Western Force coach Tim Sampson quickly changed Holmes' outlook.
"A few months back I had every intention of re-signing at the Chiefs and doing another season there," he said.
"And then it came around that I hadn't played 75 per cent of the games in the last 24 months. I had the Achilles injury and I hardly played at all, especially these last 12 months, so I wasn't eligible to re-sign with my visa. So that put a halt to it.
"And that's when I started thinking, 'This could be the end of it'. It was something I was mentally prepared for.
"But then you get a call from Tim asking me to help out in this comp, and it was huge.
"It just got the excitement levels up again. To be able to come back and play in Australia and finish up over here - that's everything I've ever asked for."
Holmes knows the Force coaching staff well, having played with Sampson at Sunnybank and turned out alongside forwards coach Van Humphries at the Reds.
His arrival adds vital experience to a youthful Force set-up, and he is keen to pass on his knowledge to the team's youngsters.
"Even at the Chiefs at Exeter, it's funny having kids coming out of school - it was crazy to see how young some of them are," Holmes said.
"I could literally be the dad to some of the kids there.
"It's all part and parcel, and I enjoy spending time with those young kids and helping them.
"Not every lesson in life has to be a hard one, so if I can help any of those young kids, then I will."
Jono Lance and Kyle Godwin are other high-profile recruits that have been lured to the Force in preparation for Australia's new domestic rugby competition, which kicks-off on July 3.
- Justin Chadwick
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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