The Tackle: Nicho Hynes faces biggest test yet, young Sea Eagles star joins top-30 squad; what Cotter-Drinkwater clash means for Cowboys
Nicho Hynes is set for a psychological battle rather than a playmaking one when he comes up against his opposing $1m halfback Nathan Cleary, with all eyes on the Sharks star to see if he can handle the heat. That and more in THE TACKLE.
Fatima Kdouh wraps up a crazy weekend of finals football in The Tackle, revealing her likes and dislikes after the 2024 preliminary match-ups were locked in.
FINALS WEEK 2 LIKES
CLEARY V HYNES
Nathan Cleary and Nicho Hynes will be the most talked about positional battle this week - the $1 million halfbacks carrying their side’s title ambitions in Saturday’s preliminary final at Accor Stadium.
But the battle will be a psychological one before it is a playmaking one.
Hynes has taken a back to Braydon Trindall as Cronulla’s dominant playmaker, leaving the No.7 with a simplified role.
Despite this, it will leave all eyes on Hynes and how his nerves hold-up at Accor Stadium.
On one side of the field is Hynes, who has seemingly struggled with his confidence and ability to take back ownership of Sharks since returning from a broken leg.
On the other is Cleary, the cool and composed iceman that was in complete control of his game, and the Panthers, on his return from a shoulder injury in week one against the Roosters.
Cleary’s relentlessness and killer instinct is enough to unsettle the best players, let alone one that has struggled with confidence.
Then there’s the matter of Penrith five-eighth Jarome Luai, who will undoubtedly be at his niggling best and doing all he can to get under the skin of Hynes at any opportunity.
For Hynes, the preliminary final is more of a test of his mental steel than it is his skill and ability.
The most experienced critics, like Cooper Cronk, believe a side like Penrith already have their opposition beaten before a single minute is played, such is their fearsome reputation.
It doesn’t bode well for Hynes or the Sharks.
TEDDY TERRIFIC
The Roosters will need James Tedesco to deliver another statement this week against Melbourne if the Tricolours are any chance of overcoming their horrid run against the Storm.
The Roosters have lost 10 of their past 11 games against Craig Bellamy’s side and it doesn’t get any easier on Friday night in front of a packed crowd at AAMI Park.
But Tedesco has shown he is not only willing but capable of carrying a depleted Roosters side on his back.
The veteran fullback scored two tries, set-up two others, ran for 183 metres and made nine tackle busts and two linebreaks against Manly.
It was an inspired performance the Roosters needed from their skipper.
Coach Trent Robinson said Tedesco “somewhere during the week made a decision” to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
That decision probably came after Tedesco feathers were ruffled when asked if the Roosters were done as a title threat, in the wake of the side’s loss to Penrith in week one, after Sam Walker and Brandon Smith were ruled out with ACL injuries.
Normally nonplussed, Tedesco bristled at that line of questioning by reporters.
Some reporters suggested his curt response was a sign of a chink in the Roosters armour.
But it was a defiant response and Tedesco backed it up with a defiant performance against the Sea Eagles.
Whatever stirred in Tedesco last week lit a fire under the stalwart fullback. Robinson and Roosters fans will need that fire to be burning strong in Friday’s preliminary final.
TRINDALL’S PAY DAY
A number of NRL players set to hit the open market on November 1 are in for a payday but none bigger than Cronulla’s Braydon Trindall.
Rugby League Immortal Andrew Johns believes Trindall can command up $900,000 on the open market after picking apart the Cowboys on Friday night.
“If he was on the open market now, he can name his price. He’d be up around $800,000 or $900,000,” Johns said on Channel 9.
“Everything he did was top class. Even though he was wearing the No.6, he was the dominant halve. His pass selection, his kicking, he was just in everything.
“I’ve watched him closely, every year he’s building his game. I was blown away by his performance.”
Trindall is believed to be earning around $300,000 per season, a fraction of what $1 million-man Nicho Hynes is currently earning.
Trindall has been a shining light for Cronulla following a stint in rehab in April after failing a roadside drug and alcohol test.
He played the role of dominant halve with ease against the Cowboys and that performance will only catch the attention of NRL rivals looking to secure a halfback, like Canterbury and the Dragons.
STORM BREWING
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
Rugby League fans will find out when Roosters firebrand Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Melbourne behemoth Nelson Asofa-Solomona lock horns on Friday night at AAMI Park.
Waerea-Hargreaves set the tone for the Roosters with his first hit-up against Manly after Tolu Koula was made a victim of the enforcer’s powerful running in Saturday’s semi-final.
The Roosters will need every bit of Waerea-Hargreaves’ aggression and go-forward to get his side on the front foot and lay a platform for key men James Tedesco, Sandon Smith and Luke Keary.
His ability to keep a cool head will be tested by Asofa-Solomona, who will also be looking to impose himself on the game early.
The props went after each other back in 2022 but Asofa-Solomona got the better of Waerea-Hargreaves, when he was marched following a number of fiery exchanges in the first half.
Melbourne hold a formidable record against the Roosters and have won 10 of the last 11 matches against the Tricolours.
But complacency is a dirty word in Melbourne, especially when a spot in the grand final is on the line.
General manager Frank Ponissi said Melbourne won’t take the Roosters lightly even though spine stars Sam Walker and Brandon Smith will be missing.
The Storm only just snatched victory against Trent Robinson’s men in the dying minutes of last year’s semi-final.
“Everyone has been saying they have lost key players but you look at the Roosters team that played against Manly, there’s at least 12 internationals,” Ponissi said.
“That’s one hell of a football team but they are talented and they are one of the teams to beat. Whatever the record might be or what has come before is totally irrelevant come Friday night.”
But Ponissi is hoping a sell-out crowd at AAMI Park will get the Storm home.
Friday’s game coincides with the AFL grand final long weekend in Melbourne.
The Storm are the only Victorian side competing for a title in either code and Ponissi believes Melbourians will get behind Craig Bellamy’s men.
“We have a strong core of loyal supporters, we’ve averaged 20,000 people a game this year,” Ponissi said.
“But it’s an opportunity for those that aren’t diehard NRL supporters to jump on board this weekend and get behind us, either in person or watch us on TV.”
Already those dyed in the wool Storm supporters were out in full force, showing their support for the club at Sunday’s fan day and open training session at Gosch’s Paddock.
FINALS WEEK 2 DISLIKES
SEIBOLD’S SELECTION HEADACHES
Manly coach Anthony Seibold is facing some crucial selection calls over the summer.
Seibold’s experiment of shifting Reuben Garrick from left wing into right centre in 2024 failed spectacularly at the worst possible time for the Sea Eagles.
Garrick was terrorised by the Roosters’ left edge and the 27-year-old missed his defensive assignment on Saturday night.
Garrick agreed to extend long term with an eye to make a shift to fullback or centre to be closer to the action. But given his defensive deficiencies, Seibold will have to reconsider a shift back onto the wing. The move would open up the opportunity for Tommy Talau to partner Tolu Koula in the centres next season.
The coach also has decisions to make in the backrow. Haumole Olakau’atu is a one man wrecking ball on the right edge but Seibold needs a solution on the left side of the field. Ethan Bullemor deserves a spot in the starting forward pack.
Lachlan Croker has done a commendable job at hooker but the Sea Eagles need more creativity out of dummy-half and better distribution. Too many passes from dummy half hit the deck against the Roosters. Jake Simpkin should challenge Croker for the starting role over the summer.
While veteran Daly Cherry-Evans could play beyond 2025, Seibold needs a succession plan beyond the 35-year-old.
That plan will be put in motion in the pre-season after the club secured rising playmaker Joey Walsh, who will join the top-30 in 2025 on a three-year deal.
Walsh is a product of Brookvale’s St Augustine’s College but has been in the Roosters and NSW Waratahs systems.
Walsh is considered one of the best playmaking prospects in either code, and captained the under-18s Australian rugby side last year.
He was also named alongside the likes of Blaize Talagi, Jesse McLean and Chevy Stewart in the NSW Blues junior squad in 2022.
The club initially had designs for Jamie Humphreys to step-in as a long term replacement in the halves but the 22-year-old only had limited opportunities and is South Sydney bound in 2025.
COWBOY’S DISSENT
A small moment can define a sudden death semi-final but it can also give a telling insight into the inner workings of a club’s culture and mindset.
A heated moment between North Queensland fullback Scott Drinkwater and skipper Reuben Cotter did exactly that in the Cowboys’ 26-18 loss to Cronulla.
Drinkwater elbowed his captain out of the way as he mouthed the words ‘get off me’ at Cotter.
Drinkwater had just thrown a sloppy pass then went to ground in a disjointed attacking move in the 30th minute. The ball ended up with Drinkwater but after he had given up on the play, leading to a costly knock-on when the Cowboys were only 12-nil down.
Cotter made a beeline for Drinkwater and the fullback clearly didn’t take too kindly to the skipper’s words.
Teammates squabble regularly on the field but rarely is a captain brushed off in the way Drinkwater did to Cotter.
It wouldn’t happen to Penrith’s Isaah Yeo or Roosters captain James Tedesco. There’s too much respect.
Todd Payten labelled his side a ‘middle of the road’ football side and that moment between Drinkwater and his skipper reeks of a middle of the road culture.
The moment did not go unnoticed by astute rugby league fans online.
“Cronulla players get around Hynes despite every news headline in the world … Drinkwater and Cotter yelling at each other after a slow start in one game,” Dan said on X, formerly Twitter.
“Says a lot.”
But coach Payten has other issues to address in the pre-season including the Cowboys’ lack of defensive resolve and fitness.
Referee Ashley Klein put away the whistle on Friday night and with the ball in play for longer periods, the Cowboys fell away defensively and the Sharks raced to a 24-nil lead at halftime.
Defence is built on fitness but the Cowboys have a soft underbelly and lack grit – it’s been a problem for Payten in recent seasons.
But it shouldn’t be, Payten has access to some of the NRL’s best training facilities at the club’s centre of excellence in Townsville.
It can only mean that Payten has a personnel issue.
The Cowboys are a flashy team with plenty of strike but in the big games against the best sides defensive always comes up trump.
Already there are rumblings of discontent among Cowboys that are asking a worthy question – have the Cowboys reached their ceiling under Payten?
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