Nicho Hynes went from the glamour of winning the Dally M Medal in his first Sharks season to being dropped from Origin after a debut he’d rather to forget.
But now, after facing “adversity” throughout his 2023 campaign, one of the NRL’s good guys believes his “heartbreak” has him primed for a mammoth season.
Hynes debuted off the bench for NSW in Game I of last year’s series, only given a 12-minute stint that saw him miss a crucial tackle that led to a Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow try.
The only place to watch both games of the Las Vegas opening double-header live is Fox League, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
Sitting down with foxsports.com.au, an honest and open Hynes explained the pain he felt after he was axed for Game II stayed with him for a long time.
“It hurt a lot… him telling me I was in the team for the first Origin after the Knights game in Coffs Harbour, [it] went from the highest of highs to a week after being at the lowest of lows,” Hynes said.
“I don’t blame Freddy for it, I blame myself for a lot of it. Could there have been a clearer plan? Could I have trained there more during the week? Yeah, probably.
“But I need to make sure I put ownership on it myself to go and be better there.
“Then a couple of weeks after Origin I probably went out and tried to prove everyone wrong and play on my own and not bring my team with me.
“I wasn’t playing my best footy… and I’m lucky it only took a couple of weeks to snap out of it. I started playing some good footy again but look, it was hard. I felt like I let my teammates down, I let my state down and myself and my family down.
“It’s the first time I’d felt like that in my footy career, and I took a while to forgive myself and I think when you get over things you need to forgive yourself first.
“I don’t think I did that and I held onto it for a long time and that’s why it snowballed a little bit. But in hindsight it’s probably the best thing that’s happened to me as a learning and a lesson.”
Hynes is no stranger to adversity in his personal life, having dealt with his mother being in and out of prison and his parents splitting when he was a toddler.
Bunnies jet off to Vegas ahead of opener | 02:42
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!
But his NRL career up until the 2023 season ran smoothly, breaking into a red-hot Storm outfit before making a hugely successful move to the Sharks in 2022.
The 27-year-old admitted last season’s campaign was the first time he felt under fire and the lessons he’s learnt have only strengthened his resolve.
“Last year was the first time I’d faced adversity as a rugby league player,” he said.
“As a human, I’ve faced a fair bit. But as a rugby league player it was probably the first challenging moments I’ve had in my NRL career.
“It can only set you up for success later on, and I feel like Nathan Cleary went through a bit in his early stages. Johnathan Thurston didn’t win a final for however many years.
“All the great players have all gone through stuff, Michael Jordan misses that many shots but he also sinks them. He didn’t win a comp every year, you don’t call his years a failure do you.
“So it’s all a learning, I’m forever evolving and learning to be a better player each year. I haven’t even played 100 games yet.
“I feel like everything that’s happened in my career thus far is definitely a learning and it’s not always going to be smooth sailing and I’m ready for whatever is going to come my way this year.
“But I feel like last year is only going to set me up for a much better season this year.”
Hynes’ 2023 campaign ended on a positive note, making his Kangaroos debut as a utility under head coach Mal Meninga across two Pacific Championships games.
After being underdone going into Origin Game I, Hynes made sure he had all bases covered and prepared for every position he might be thrust into ahead of another rep baptism of fire.
“(It has improved me) massively, especially the senior players, like Cherry-Evans was awesome, I can’t thank him enough for what he did for me in that camp,” Hynes said.
“Even the Prime Minister’s team, we started off having a yarn in PNG and then he just went above and beyond in Aussie camp.
“Going from Origin, that was a tough pill to swallow but I think it set me up and prepped me, because I was going there as a utility again. Not knowing if I was getting a game.
“But when Mal told me I was playing and coming off the bench it was very similar to my role for NSW, but in saying that I had a clearer role, there was a purpose to get me out there.
“We trained that from the start and I feel like I was prepared for it because I knew I couldn’t go out there and do what I did in Origin.
“I didn’t prep for right centre, but I went in (Kangaroos camp) and prepped for everything, I made sure I prepped for every position.
“I think it set me up for that camp and Mal’s relaxed nature is like me, I’m a relaxed, chilled person and the way he set his camp up it just suited me to a tee.”
The Sharks suffered a “heartbreaking” loss to the Roosters in the first week of finals, being dumped out of the premiership race by a Sam Walker field goal.
But Hynes’ Kangaroos debut allowed him to brush that defeat off quickly and focus on performing at the highest level.
MORE NRL NEWS
RD1 TEAM TIPS: Roosters star recruit to miss Vegas after crusher tackle
‘COME ON REF’: Warriors enforcer sent off after brutal hit knocks out Tigers recruit
HIS OWN MAN: Why Tom Flegler’s Broncos call ‘needed to be done’
COACHES UNDER PRESSURE: Eels reality; Bennett murmurs Souths boss can’t shake
NRL convert impresses for Tigers | 00:30
“It was (heartbreaking), I was fortunate enough I got to go and play a bit of footy and finish the year on a high by playing for Australia,” Hynes said.
“You have to move on pretty quickly for that so I haven’t held onto it as long and it helped me move on faster.
“But coming out of the Australian tour, it made me so much more confident, and I felt like a better player. It made me refocus and re-energised, knowing what I need to do to be at the top level.
“It was a blessing in disguise for me going into that Aussie tour, but also experiencing some hardships and some harsh defeats in getting dropped from Origin and that defeat.
“But I feel like I’m in a better spot this year than I ever have been.”
In terms of goals this season, Hynes is purely focused on the Sharks and getting result for the Shire team’s faithful fans.
He believes if Cronulla are at the top of the table mixing it with the competition’s heavyweight, representative honours will come knocking.
“My goals I’m setting this year are more team focused, I felt like the first couple of years here I set a couple of individual goals which I knocked off,” Hynes said.
“But I think if I’m playing well in this team, this team is winning games of football then I will be playing good footy and I’ll be knocking on the door of selection.
“I’m not going to put goals of all these rep footy teams because everyone wants to play them right, but I want to win a premiership, I want this team in the top four all year.
“I want to go on winning streaks, all these things team wise and if we are doing that then I am playing good footy and I don’t see why I can’t be in that arena.”
Discussion about this post