Twelve months has always been a long time in rugby league, and Cronulla flyer Valentine Holmes knows that better than most.
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In the space of a year he has helped Cronulla win a maiden NRL premiership, signed a two-year contract extension, played in a Four Nations tournament, won a State of Origin series for Queensland and is now preparing to represent Australia at the World Cup later this year.
All of that after Holmes' career looked to be on the representative scrapheap at the start of 2016.
Holmes was one of a host of players to break curfew at an emerging Maroons camp in Brisbane in January last year on an alcohol-fuelled night out where he earned a fine for causing a public nuisance and obstructing police at a taxi rank.
Queensland coach Kevin Walters told the speedster he wouldn't be considered for State Of Origin duties throughout 2016 as punishment for the incident.
It was a telling blow for the Townsville product, but a lesson he said needed to be learnt.
"I'm glad it did happen to me when I was a lot younger, I was a bit more silly then," Holmes said.
"It's good, not only for myself, but for the other boys that it happened to. It's definitely shown to the younger boys, and the younger guys coming through 20s that haven't played yet, just to take it serious.
"You can get a chance whenever, you've just got to make sure you take it with two hands. I'm sure that's a good lesson I've learnt and it's a good lesson for the younger boys as well."
Holmes knuckled down for the Sharks in pre-season last year, determined to force his way back into Walters' Origin squad.
He produced a stellar season, equalling the club record with 19 tries as Cronulla broke their premiership drought in their 50th season.
Mal Meninga took plenty of notice and picked Holmes for a Test against New Zealand last October, offering him a chance to make his representative debut at long last. He was then selected in the Four Nations team that travelled to Britain.
He was overlooked for the series opener, along with Billy Slater, before the duo was rushed in to help save the series.
It worked. Queensland pulled game two out of the fire before proving too good in the decider as Holmes ran rampant scoring an Origin hat-trick.
"I was thinking to myself the other day, I've played Origin now, and for my country and I've won a grand final," Holmes said.
"I definitely thought that wouldn't happen in the space of two years. It's been an awesome journey for myself so far and I can't wait to pull on that [Australian] jersey again."
Holmes plans to use the World Cup as an opportunity to learn from the master, Slater, who won the Clive Churchill Medal for Melbourne in last weekend's grand final win over North Queensland.
Ben Barba's exit from Cronulla at the end of last year meant Holmes was given fullback duties at the Sharks this season, and the 22-year-old admits he's still learning the finer points of wearing the No.1 jersey.
"I'm in a new position now, and I've got a lot of improving to do in playing fullback," Holmes said.
"I'll definitely watch him [Slater] at training and see what he does at training to put in my game. When I hear him talking about back-five stuff or fullback stuff, I'll definitely try and listen up.
"That's what these next couple of years will be, just learning. This year was a massive learning curve for me; playing at the elite level at fullback was something different and it was a lot harder than I thought.
"I'm still learning that and next year will be a good chance for me to bring out what I can do."
