Cronulla Sharks young gun Valentine Holmes says the addition of premiership-winning pivot James Maloney has already made the Sharks a better team.

Speaking to NRL.com, Holmes thanked veteran Jeff Robson but said Maloney had brought the team to a new level on the training field.

“Jimmy has played a big part of pre-season already, he’s our main half – pretty much what Robbo was last year.

“James is a great leader, and it’s been great to learn off him.

“You can just tell when James is on the training paddock, when he says something to the group, everybody listens.

“Everybody takes it in because they know what to expect from him with him being such a high profile player – he’s doing a lot here.”