Nicho Hynes’ form with the Sharks is already in the spotlight, although there have been calls for the Cronulla halfback to be given “at least a month” to prove himself before any serious judgements are made.
It comes after Braydon Trindall was the better of the two in Cronulla’s season-opener against Penrith.
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Hynes wasn’t poor by any means, recording a try assist and linebreak assist in the loss, but generally took a backseat to Trindall, who was the more dominant playmaker.
The 2022 Dally M medallist’s $6 million contract was a big talking point in 2024 and looks set to dominate headlines again, with Trindall kicking for 530 metres to go with two try assists on Sunday.
Fox League’s Braith Anasta did give Hynes some credit for his game awareness in allowing Trindall, who had the hot hand, to take the reins in attack.
But he did question whether the Sharks will be able to compete with the premiership powerhouses on a consistent basis if Hynes can’t rediscover his best form.
“It is only one game. I don’t even think it’s a concern,” Anasta said on NRL 360.
“But if you look at the likes of Munster and Jahrome Hughes and Nathan Cleary and these guys who are playing in grand finals, it is their key playmakers that get them there and there’s another level that you need to go to.
“That’s what Cronulla have struggled with over the last few years. They get to the finals quite easily but they just can’t take that next step and a lot of that lies on Nicho.”
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The Sharks have only missed the finals once since winning their maiden premiership in 2016 but have yet to get back to the grand final and The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read, while insistent that Hynes has “another level in the game”, said it is ultimately on the Cronulla halfback to prove he can take them to the decider.
“I made it clear the other night that if they want to win the comp, Nicho needs to be firing,” Read said.
“I think we saw tonight that they pushed Penrith all the way and that was with a quiet Nicho. If Nicho fires up, they probably win this game. They need Nicho to be at his best, not at Round 1 but into Round 27 and the finals.”
However Phil Rothfield, while agreeing that there are “huge expectations” on Hynes and that he was “slightly disappointing” against Penrith, called for patience.
“He didn’t play up to that pay packet. Trindall was the better of the two. He was the more dominant of the two… he did most of the kicking in general play,” Rothfield said.
“But it’s one game of rugby league. It’s a long season ahead.
“You know when it’s fair for us to have a very serious discussion about Nicho? After about one month of the competition. I think he deserves a month.”
Anasta agreed that Hynes “should be given four to six weeks”.
“But the reality is we’re going to talk about him,” the NRL 360 co-host added.
“We talk about every key player in teams that probably aren’t reaching their full potential.”
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Further to that point, Hynes’ form was also a talking point on radio in the wake of the Las Vegas game, prompting an interesting call for Cronulla to consider a positional shake-up.
Panthers premiership winner Scott Sattler said Hynes would make a “really good” lock, operating in an “Isaah Yeo-type role”.
“In that role, you can basically be a chameleon,” Sattler said on SEN’s Sportsday.
“You can jump in any part of the field, he’d handle the workrate, he’d be nice and subtle with the ball, he can jump in and kick. I think he’d be a really good thirteen. But unfortunately the captain Cameron McInnes is thirteen and he deserves to be in the team every week.”
Mat Rogers, meanwhile, suggested more explicitly making this Trindall’s team by moving him to the seven and shifting Hynes to the six where he could be unleashed as more of a running option.
Fox League’s Bryan Fletcher even said on Afternoons with Jimmy Smith that Hynes could do with a brief stint on the bench.
“I think he might do with a spell on the bench to get the fire back in his belly,” Fletcher said.
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