Nicho Hynes will forever be grateful for what Nathan Cleary has done for him on and off the field, but the student now gets his chance to end the master’s reign at the top with Cronulla 80 minutes away from a spot in the grand final.
The only problem is they must find a way to get past the three-time defending premiers who are well-rested and thrashed them 42-0 earlier this season on a night that Cleary didn’t even play.
Hynes got hurt in that game and has dealt with a major leg injury since, but has since returned and helped end Cronulla’s seven-game losing streak in the finals, even if he did cop a week of intense scrutiny following their loss to the Storm.
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That could have rattled him, but a pre-season visit from Cleary provided him with the tools to deal with stuff like that, with the champion playmaker also happy to break down how he engineered the greatest grand final comeback a year ago with the greatest 17 minutes we’ve seen by someone on a footy field.
“I have a great relationship with Nathan and I’m not ashamed to say I respect him and idolise what he’s done in this game,” Hynes said after the Sharks beat the Cowboys 26-18.
“I really love the bloke and he’s a genuinely nice person. He cares about me and I care about him.
“I’m really grateful that we can have those discussions and try to help each other out – well I don’t really help him out because he’s done everything in the game.
“But it’s going to be business as usual and I’m going to try to take him and his team down, and he’s going to try to do the exact same thing.
“Regardless of the result, we’ll shake hands and share a beer together.”
Some players have too much pride to ask rivals for help, with number one draft pick in the NFL Caleb Williams appearing to try to walk away from fellow quarterback C.J. Stroud earlier this week as he gave him some pointers.
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But when you have someone like Cleary who is willing to help, Hynes is more than happy to sit and listen to a man who is doing things we’ve never seen before having also had plenty of critics earlier in his career.
“My ego’s not too big that I can ask my peers for help. It’s what you’ve got to do in life and in this sort of arena,” he said.
“When you go through challenges, you try to get the help of someone who’s gone through similar.
“Early in his career he went through some challenges so I’d be silly not trying to build a relationship with someone like that.
“At one stage it was probably more off-field (advice). I always pick his brain and talk about life in general so we talk about everything.
“Maybe I’ll message him and speak to him this week to see if he has any advice!”
Cleary’s advice helped Hynes during a week which started with Panthers legend Greg Alexander suggesting the Sharks should drop their halfback after what happened in Melbourne.
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That narrative dominated the headlines but was quickly shot down by the club, with Hynes unaware of the comments until he was asked about them on Tuesday.
He didn’t over play his hand on Friday night, instead leaving it to halves partner Braydon Trindall to have the highlight moments as they raced to a 24-0 lead.
“It wasn’t even that challenging. It was just business as usual,” he said.
“The only time I ever heard anything about it was when someone texted me ‘don’t worry about it’. I literally have spent no time on my phone, no time looking at the TV.
“The only way out of it is through it, and the only way I can be better is by getting to training and working hard with my teammates.
“All these people that are talking about it, they’re not going to help me on the field. The only people who will help me are my teammates so that’s all I need to worry about.”
Hynes was relieved to get the monkey off his back with Cronulla snapping their seven-game losing streak in finals, but the challenge now is to do what so many teams have tried and failed by ending Penrith’s time at the top.
“It’d be really nice. I think every club is trying to end that dynasty. You’ve got to take your hat off and respect what they’ve done because that’s three premierships in a row,” he said.
“You’ve got to have the respect for them, but you can’t show them too much respect because you’ve got to beat them.”
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