Tension between Valentine Holmes and Cameron Munster has intensified after the Cronulla winger questioned why his counterpart reopened old wounds ahead of the biggest game of their young lives.
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As reported by Fairfax Media on Tuesday, Munster revealed his disappointment in being made the "scapegoat" for the indiscretions of several Queenslanders during this year's Emerging Maroons camp.
While Munster didn't reference Holmes, it is understood the Melbourne No.1 privately blamed the Sharks flyer for dobbing him into Queensland officials after missing curfew in January.
Holmes, who was fined for causing a public nuisance and obstructing police at a taxi rank during the late night in Brisbane, had previously represented Queensland and Australia in the under-20s alongside Munster.
But when asked if he was close to his club rival, Holmes admitted: "I don't, like, text him every now and then."
While Holmes insists he doesn't have an issue with Munster, he questioned why Munster even spoke about the incident at the Storm's media day in Melbourne on Monday.
"I'm not too sure why he would talk about what happened at the camp when we have a big game coming up," Holmes said.
"I didn't read the news so I'm not quite sure what he said, but if it was about what happened in the camp, I don't know why he would talk about that coming up to a week like this."
Munster was equally sheepish when asked about his relationship with Holmes, refusing to point the finger despite those close to him admitting it was Holmes he blamed for informing QRL officials about what happened on the night out.
The investigation led to another six players – Brisbane's Ben Hunt, Anthony Milford and Jarrod Wallace, Roosters prop Dylan Napa, Penrith's Chris Grevsmuhl and Canberra's Edrick Lee – all banned from playing Origin this year for missing curfew.
Munster accepted his punishment but when reflecting on the incident he admitted he wasn't too happy with the way it all got out.
"I was more disappointed in the fact that I was the only one getting thrown in the media," Munster said.
"I was a bit of a scapegoat, but I can't whinge about it too much ... I went out for late curfew. Val [Holmes] wasn't with me at the time. Unfortunately he got caught and then unfortunately we all got caught. It was a silly decision that I made, but it's made me a lot smarter and a lot more driven for success."
The pair have played against each other twice since the incident in Brisbane, with the scores locked up at 1-1.
However Holmes' performance in Cronulla's round four victory against the Storm was far from memorable, making several mistakes in a horror outing for the try-scoring machine.
"I had a few drop balls at the start but I was lucky our team was pretty good that night and we got the win," Holmes said.
"Everyone has an off game, so it didn't really faze me. I don't think about what's happened in the past, I just try to play better than the week before. You have to move on from it and keep your head up. You just have to get involved, because the more you get involved the quicker you get over it and do more better things."
