Nicho Hynes sends reminder to State of Origin selectors as Sharks smash Manly

The Sea Eagles are clinging to eighth spot on the ladder after being outmuscled by the determined Sharks, with star halfback Nicho Hynes putting on his best performance of the season.

Forgotten State of Origin contender Nicho Hynes has helped Cronulla surge to fifth on the NRL ladder with his best performance of the season on Sunday night.

Hynes had two try assists and was a constant threat, helping Cronulla stave off another potential Women in League round comeback by Manly, before going on to claim the Steve Rogers Memorial Trophy for the second time this year with a 30-14 win.

The loss was Manly’s third-straight defeat at the once impenetrable 4 Pines Park and the Sea Eagles have now sunk to a fifth loss from nine games this year.

The Sharks opened the scoring after 11 minutes when Briton Nikora split the Manly defence before he was brought down 20 metres out by Tom Trbojevic. From the next play Hynes took advantage of Trbojevic’s involvement in that tackle and kicked through for Ronaldo Mulitalo to score.

Six minutes later the Cronulla half was at it again, delivering a peach of a pass to a rampaging Addin Fonua-Blake to pour through untouched.

Manly had won eight of their past ten following the bye but today they began like they were still on their break. They were disjointed and lacklustre in attack, dropping balls, throwing intercepts and struggling to threaten at all. In defence they missed some simple tackles, 15 in the first half alone.

Considering Manly’s ill-discipline – they made eight first half errors to go with all the missed tackles, it was a miracle the Sharks weren’t up by more than 14-0 at half time.

It took a Braydon Trindall error 10m out from the Manly line to spark the Sea Eagles’ attack six minutes into the second half, a stunning 90m raid finished off by Tolu Koula and the comeback was on.

Seven minutes later Koula danced through some flimsy Sharks defence to grab his second and the tide looked to have well and truly turned. When Reuben Garrick knocked over an easy penalty goal midway through the half things were all square and the home crowd of 15,823 came alive.

Garrick turned villain four minutes later, spilling the ball in his own in goal under intense tackle pressure from Billy Burns, presenting Trindall with a gift four pointer and wrestling the momentum back in favourite of the Sharks who scored twice more via Mulitalo and KL Iro to secure the victory.

The Sea Eagles have turned 4 Pines Park into a fortress over the years, but they have struggled against Cronulla at the venue in recent times, having not defeated the Sharks at the ground since 2019.

Addin Fonua-Blake and Nicho Hynes. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

ORIGIN WATCH

Cameron McInnes and Blayke Brailey might be outsiders for a spot in NSW coach Laurie Daley’s squad for State of Origin 1 on May 28 but both continued their consistent form for the Sharks and could come into contention if injuries dictate.

Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans, both considered close to certain selections for NSW and Queensland respectively, were steady, if not dominant for Manly, but did nothing to harm their selection chances.

Backrower Haumole Olakau’atu was far from his damaging best and may have fallen down the NSW forwards’ pecking order.

DCE INTO TOP 10

Daly Cherry-Evans. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Cherry-Evans joined the all-time top 10 for premiership matches with his 338th appearance, equal 9th with Chris Heighington and Jesse Bromwich.

If the Manly skipper plays all of Manly’s remaining regular season matches, outside of those he is likely to miss due to State of Origin commitments, he will reach 350 games, good enough for equal fourth on the all time list with Bulldogs great Terry Lamb.

Manly legend Steve Menzies amassed 349 appearances – 280 for the maroon and white’s and 69 for the Northern Eagles.