Nicho Hynes is under pressure to deliver on the big stage, but here’s my simple message to him

For all the debate about what his best position is or how much money he’s earning or whether he should even be in the team this week, I would give Nicho Hynes a simple message: worry about your defence and kicking game.

When halfbacks strip it right back, that is the foundation of their craft. If their defence is crisp and the timing of their tackles is good, it will help with their attack. And the most important part of a No.7’s attack is the kicking game.

You can see there are a thousand things going through his head at times, but I don’t think there needs to be a major fix this week. Just tackle well, and then kick well. He needs to be constantly asking himself, ‘what’s my next kick?’ Don’t even worry about the big plays because if the other things are working well, then they’ll look after themselves.

Like Hynes, the Sharks must find a way to win a big game. It doesn’t matter how, they’ve just got to do it. This stigma that they can’t handle the huge occasions won’t subside until they actually win one.

Unfortunately for them, all the pressure is on Cronulla this week. There’s no expectation of the Cowboys, which makes them a dangerous side.

I think the key for the Sharks might not be what Hynes and Braydon Trindall conjure in the halves, but how they use hooker Blayke Brailey. Let’s not forget some of their best performances this year have been without one or two of their first-choice halves. In those wins, they focused more of their attack around Brailey in the middle of the field.

Cameron Smith has a great saying: elephants don’t like little mice dancing around their feet. The Sharks have to straighten up their attack and be far more direct late in each half against the tiring big boys from the Cowboys.

All eyes will be on Nicho Hynes again on Friday night.Credit: James Brickwood

I know Sharks fans don’t usually like leaving the Shire, but if ever their team needs them, it’s this week. North Queensland will have very few travelling supporters. Cronulla faithful have to turn out in numbers on Friday night and try to inspire their team to a big win.

The Cowboys are really being moulded into a team which befits the character of their co-captains Reuben Cotter and Tom Dearden. They had to dig deep against the Knights, and it was no surprise the two big plays to win came from their leaders in the last 10 minutes.

Jason Taumalolo was back to somewhere near his best and the thing I like most about them is I will argue they have the best back-row pairing in the competition with Jeremiah Nanai and Heilum Luki. That pair will make it a difficult night for Hynes and Trindall.

Joey’s tip: Cowboys by 2
First try-scorer: Kyle Feldt
Man of the match: Scott Drinkwater

Banged-up Turbo

How do you reckon Tom Trbojevic woke up on Monday morning? I can only imagine he would have been in horrific pain. I know there’s been a lot spoken about his shoulder, but I reckon the knee looks equally concerning. He didn’t seem comfortable at all accelerating through any tackles.

But when it comes to his physical and mental toughness, there are no words. He is beyond brave.

I think the Roosters were better than the scoreline suggested against the Panthers last week. They were completely blown off the park early, but the momentum changed when Spencer Leniu, Naufahu Whyte and Siua Wong came on the field. I don’t think they will be obliterated in the first 20 minutes again with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves back from suspension.

Manly fullback Tom Trbojevic.Credit: Getty Images

From a defensive point of view, there are two areas I’m watching out for in this game.

The first is how Manly connect on that right side with centre Reuben Garrick coming in a couple of times against the Bulldogs when he didn’t need to, leaving Lehi Hopoate stranded. The other is how does Daly Cherry-Evans unlock Haumole Olakau’atu in trying to target Luke Keary?

Like the Sharks, I’d like to see the Roosters concentrate their attack a little more from Connor Watson at hooker to bring James Tedesco into play, and they desperately need to clean up their discipline, conceding far too many cheap penalties in recent weeks.

But where they do hold an edge is their back five bringing the ball out of their own end. The Sea Eagles really struggled in that department last week, and Trent Robinson will be relying on Dominic Young and Daniel Tupou to get their sets rolling.

Joey’s tip: Roosters by 8
First try-scorer: Daniel Tupou
Man of the match: James Tedesco

Cream rises to the top

I’m still trying to comprehend some magnificent individual performances in the first week of the finals, when the NRL’s biggest stars came to play. Here’s a little tribute to the ones that caught my eye.

Daly Cherry-Evans: He produced an absolute masterclass on how to play as a halfback off the back foot. I still can’t believe the Sea Eagles won that game. His team had little go-forward for most of the afternoon. That’s a credit to the Bulldogs who smothered their opposition for the first three tackles after every kick. But watch how Cherry-Evans held his nerve. He stayed patient, didn’t move the ball too laterally and kept kicking long. That helped his team stay in the fight. And as soon as they got an error or penalty, he upped the tempo. The winning try when they ran the ball inside their own 30 metres on the last tackle was about as much courage as a halfback can have. But maybe his biggest play was when he stood up to Reed Mahoney after the scrap with Garrick. That lit a fire under his team, and then he showed the composure to get them home when they found the lead.

Nathan Cleary: What more can you say? Everyone knows his shoulder is unstable, but he didn’t miss a beat. The most pleasing thing for me is he didn’t play in a dinner suit. He went looking for contact right from the start of the game, and every aspect of halfback play, he nailed it. The way Cleary and Isaah Yeo arrange Penrith’s attack is just magic.

Kalyn Ponga: Tell me he’s not the best player in the world at the moment. His performance, in a losing team, was the highlight of the weekend. I can’t ever remember seeing a player who can move, step and accelerate on sharper angles than what he can. But his defence also saved a couple of tries in Townsville. I know James Tedesco is the incumbent and Dylan Edwards and Reece Walsh would have claims, but he has to be fullback for Australia. I shudder to think where my Knights would be without him.

Melbourne’s spine: Right now, Melbourne are still my tip to win the competition. Their spine are all champion players, but when they work together, they control their egos to get the best result for the team. Harry Grant got his first hat-trick last week and Cameron Munster’s running game was back to his best. You can possibly stop one or two of them each week, but I can’t fathom how you stop all four.

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