‘Me wanting to have good stats’: The shift in mindset that has allowed Nicho Hynes and the Sharks to thrive
Nicho Hynes was once the most dominant playmaker in the NRL, but a subtle change has helped turn the Sharks into a genuine premiership threat.
Nicho Hynes concedes he was trying too hard to set up all the tries for Cronulla when he first got to the club, but the halfback is now comfortable to take a back seat to Braydon Trindall, who has had his fair share of highlight plays this year.
The partnership is still blossoming and that’s a scary sign for opposition teams given they are arguably the form halves pairing left in the finals as other sides deal with injuries and new combinations.
Hynes was the most dominant halfback in the NRL when he joined the Sharks in 2022, setting up 26 tries on his way to the Dally M.
He had another 30 assists the following year as he became a favourite of SuperCoach players, but fans would’ve noticed a slight change in approach since then with Hynes happy to share the load with Trindall.
“It wasn’t the fact that I didn’t want him to do it,” the Sharks half said, with Cronulla winning eight of their past nine games.
“It was more probably me in 2022 and 2023 when I won the Dally M and I was on a high and I was probably trying to play too much and trying to get all the try assists. I was trying to have the line-break assists and all that sort of stuff.
“It wasn’t worrying me about somebody else doing it. It was more me wanting to have good stats and that.
“But now it’s more that we win. That’s all I want to do is win. I don’t give a sh*t if I have zero try assists, it’s more that we win. That’s the most important stat, right?”
Trindall said he had noticed a change in Hynes over the past two seasons, with the five-eighth playing a starring role in the finals last year against the Cowboys, while he also had two crucial first-half assists to eliminate the Roosters on Saturday.
“It would have been hard for him coming in playing seven and thinking he has to run the team, but week to week it changes,” he said.
“If he was having a good game and was in control, then I take a step back and let him do his thing. And vice-versa, we get that feeling during the game and let the other half run away with it. Just work and try and complement each other.”
Hynes is still the chief playmaker but there’s a much better balance this year with Trindall only one assist behind him with 22.
They’ll face another stern test against a Raiders side reeling from their heartbreaking loss to the Broncos, but the Sharks duo have big-game experience now and will fancy their chances of taking their team to the final four for the second straight year.
“Yeah, it’s still building. Don’t get me wrong, there have been games where we’ve got it wrong,” Hynes said.
“We’ve got it right more times than not. We’re still learning from all our performances this year. We’re learning how to speak to each other the way we want to play, who’s controlling it more, who’s kicking at a time.
“But he’s got a great kicking game. He plays some good eyes-up footy. He attacks short sides really well. It’s just about me and him having to fit into the way we both mould and play and what suits the team.
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“Earlier in the year some performances probably showed that we were pushing and pulling a little bit and weren’t playing together. But I feel like the last block of eight weeks has been a really good block for us.
“You see what he can do on the weekend. He came up with two great try assists when the time was needed. I probably played more of a controlled role on the weekend. He played more of the highlight reel sort of role. Sometimes it’s vice versa.
“All those things don’t bother me anymore. It’s just about getting the team a win. If he’s having those highlight-reel moments for us, then that’s great.
“You can see what he can do when he’s switched on and dialled in for this team. I’ve seen such a big difference in the last couple of months with him just dialling in and worrying about his footy and us. Hopefully, he can do that again for us this week.”
Originally published as ‘Me wanting to have good stats’: The shift in mindset that has allowed Nicho Hynes and the Sharks to thrive
