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Melbourne have beaten North Queensland 22-14 in their pre-season NRL trial, with Harry Grant and Valentine Holmes starring for their sides.
Hooker Harry Grant showed why there has been a tug-of-war for his services with a starring performance off the bench as Melbourne cruised to a 22-14 win over North Queensland in their NRL pre-season trial.
Grant replaced Storm skipper Cameron Smith midway through the first half and scored a try with his second touch before setting up a Dale Finucane score with a clever grubber into the in-goal.
The 22-year-old was set to be involved in a one-season loan agreement between the Storm and Tigers, which would have seen centre Paul Momirovski head south, before it was blocked by the NRL for salary cap reasons.
Grant asked for a release this week but with Melbourne's back-up rake, Kiwi star Brandon Smith, out for up to six weeks with a facial fracture it was denied.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said Grant would not be leaving while Smith remains sidelined.
"Not until Brandon comes back," he said. "Harry's very strong, he's probably the fittest player in our club and he did a great job.
"We can all see why he's ready to be a regular first-grader."
Cowboys gun recruit Valentine Holmes showed he was already building a strong combination with Michael Morgan, running on to the halfback's kick into the in-goal to score and later putting winger Kyle Feldt through for a try.
Despite a year away from the game as he chased his NFL dream, Holmes looked like he had lost none of his pace or touch.
"Val's getting better each week," Cowboys coach Paul Green said.
"He was a little bit rusty at the start but that was a nice play they (Holmes and Morgan) came up with. The combination is an important thing and they're starting to get to know where each other's going to be playing.
"The more time they play together the better that will become."
The home side looked fairly sharp in the trial, played in front of a crowd of 6,120 at Casey Fields in southeast Melbourne, and led 18-4 at the break.
Justin Olam put his hand up to fill one of the Storm's centre vacancies with a big game in attack and defence, while Cowboys centre Justin O'Neill crossed the line in his first match back after a life-threatening spleen injury.