Valentine Holmes is the newest addition to the North Queensland Cowboys—having recently returned to rugby following a stint with American football team the New York Jets—and he’s already got his workout music sorted. “It’s hard to pick,” he tells Apple Music. “There’s country, R&B, slow jams, pump-up stuff to get you going.” His playlist is on rotation for team gym sessions, but there’s a personal angle to it too. “It’s a mixture of songs I listen to before a game that pumps me out just before I run out, a bit of country music—the stuff I listen to if I’m driving early in the morning to start the day. I also put in a couple of the songs I got married to, which obviously means a lot to my partner.” Listen to Holmes’ playlist and read more about his favourite tracks. Future, “Wicked” “I’ve listened to this since I started playing footy. I always put it on before I run out. The beat just gets me geed up to go. At that time when all the boys are getting geed up and taking their caffeine, this is all I need to make me go out and play for 80 minutes.” J Boog, “Let’s Do It Again” “I like listening to this one before I play. It’s got an island beat and everyone likes it, even when I put it on the speakers after a training session or in the gym or after a game. It’s a big crowd favourite.” Fiji, “Sweet Darlin” “I love listening to island music. This one is slow, easy listening, and it reminds me of when I went to the Cook Islands with my family a few years ago. We had a wedding over there, and I’d heard this song before, but when we were over there we hired a car—island music is all we listened to. Fiji, Sons of Zion, SIX60, stuff like that.” Sleeping At Last, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” "My wife walked out to this one during our wedding. I got told about this from my mate, who’s a singer. I sent it to my missus, she really liked it and we chose it straight away. The lyrics meant a lot to both of us. With my sport I’m always moving, and it resonated well with us.” Meek Mill, “Going Bad” (feat. Drake) “When I went to America, my mate and I made a little video of me training and I used that song—I’d seen Odell Beckham Jr. and Saquon Barkley use it on Instagram, and it looked really good with the action of running around and catching a ball. So ever since then I’ve just loved it.” Zac Brown Band, “Toes” “I love country music—all the boys up here do. It comes from my playing in the NRL and being a part of rep teams, where you get a lot of old heads who all like country music. It’s all the younger boys that like rap like Drake and Future—they were listening to my playlist and they were like, ‘What the hell! This guy likes everything!’ But I literally do. Well, pretty much everything except screamo. On a Sunday arvo we usually play ‘Toes’ when we’re having beers. It goes well with the song, everyone knows it, it’s easy listening, easygoing, you can sing along to it.” Ja Rule, “Livin’ It Up” (feat. Case) “When I was playing down with the Cronulla Sharks, you’d pick a song and whenever you score a try, they’d play it over the speakers. That’s the one I’d pick every year, and I still really like listening to it before a game. It’s an old classic, everyone knows it. I could go on all day about old-school music. I love it.”