Departing North Queensland centre Valentine Holmes never wanted to leave the club but now that the Cowboys have discovered their best form he's confident his exit won't be until October.
Last week's 44-6 win over Canterbury in Sydney was the Cowboys' best performance of the season. They were ruthless in defence and both clinical and brilliant in attack.
"We’ve had patches of that through our game this year but I think last week was the blueprint for how we should be playing and how we should have played all season," Holmes told AAP ahead of Saturday night's home elimination final against Newcastle.
"It is better late than never and taking that form into finals is always very pleasing and gives confidence to the group."
Holmes, who will join St George Illawarra in 2025 on a three-year deal, was on song in attack to score a brilliant individual try and land seven goals for a personal haul of 18 points against the Bulldogs.
The 29-year-old was contracted to the Cowboys until the end of 2025 but due to the club's salary cap squeeze the Test and Queensland star was given permission to negotiate with other clubs before landing on the Dragons under his old Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan.
Getting that deal out of the way lifted a weight of his shoulders.
"After everything I’ve been going through the last month and a bit, to get it all sorted I am now clear in the head and everything is clear within the group," Holmes said.
"We are all focused on one goal and hopefully we get through each week and get to that last game of the year and I leave on a high with a premiership up here.
"It was obviously not the ideal situation for myself. I would have loved to have stayed up here but that’s footy.
"You have to do things that are best for yourself, your family and your club. We are all on good terms.
"It helps that I know Flanno and (Dragons assistant coach) Dean Young. A few of the boys from that team I played alongside in Origin and knowing all that made the decision easier.
"Being back down in the Cronulla area is not foreign to me so it wasn’t too bad of a decision."
Holmes won the 2016 premiership at the Sharks under Flanagan when they were given little chance. The Cowboys are also rank outsiders to claim the title.
"It kind of feels a little bit the same (as 2016). You want to come in as the underdogs," Holmes said.
"You don’t want to come in as favourites in the top two where other teams expect you to be at your best. If teams are underestimating us that’s fine. We know what we can do and how we can break down teams."
