Cronulla halfback Nicho Hynes believes the difficult lessons learned both on and off the field over the past 12 months have prepared him to take the Sharks on a deep finals run.
The form player of the 2022 season, Hynes took his side to a second place regular season finish, but went out in straight sets after losses to the Cowboys and Rabbitohs.
A little over a week after that Rabbitohs loss, he was awarded the Dally M Medal.
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Hynes’ mettle has been tested on several occasions throughout the season. Firstly by off-field matters involving his mum in the lead up to round one, then later his brutal axing from the Blues’ State of Origin side after making only a brief appearance in game one.
Since then, his form has yoyoed, and he’s been involved in several uncharacteristic on-field incidents. In July, Hynes was fined for tripping Manly speedster Tolu Koula in the Sharks’ round 21 loss to the Sea Eagles. In the same game, he also copped a telling-off from referee Peter Gough for back chat.
But he said he was never worried about rediscovering his form from last season. He insists he’s “turned a corner” ahead of another finals appearance.
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“I don’t ever think that I … struggled or worried about the way I could get (back) to playing good footy again,” he told media on Tuesday.
“Look at my last four games – I’ve won my last four games and unfortunately the team had a bit of a hiccup against Newcastle, and I couldn’t play.
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“But I feel like I’m in a really good head space, a really good position to keep training hard and playing good footy, and I feel like I’ve hit the form that I need to hit before going to the finals.”
Hynes said the Sharks’ week one loss to the Cowboys last season ate at him throughout the offseason.
In that game, a last minute Cowboys try and the subsequent conversion sent the game to golden point. Hynes missed the Sharks’ only field goal attempt, before a Val Holmes two-point field goal sealed the win.
“I held on to that Cowboys game for a long time,” he said.
“The Rabbitohs game we weren’t really in it at all, (but) that Cowboys game was something I held on to that whole off season.
“But I’m not hanging on to it now, it is what it is, and I’ll learn from those experiences. But look, I’ve just gotta look forward right now and that’s at the Roosters.”
Hynes has also followed the lead of several elite sports stars – including Richmond AFL gun Jack Reiwoldt and three-times Supercars champion-turned Indycar ace Scott McLaughlin – in hiring a mindset coach to help him cope with the immense pressure of the NRL.
“I’m pretty open in saying that, (he) helps me with those sorts of things, I put things in place every day so I’m not sitting there thinking about things I don’t need to really think about.
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“I’ve got my routines, I’ve got certain things I do in different situations that I’m faced with.
“I used to probably hang on to things for a few days, now I’ll give myself a couple of hours after a loss or a crappy decision that doesn’t go my way, then you just move on.”
The Roosters won five straight to scrape into the finals virtually on the number. The Sharks won their only encounter this year 22-12 at Shark Park in round seven.
They will meet at the same venue in an elimination final on Saturday night.