‘Not an Origin player’: Nicho Hynes smacked down by Origin great

Nicho Hynes’ dumping from the NSW Blues squad for the must-win State of Origin game II at Suncorp Stadium hasn’t surprised everyone.

Nicho Hynes was dumped after 12 minutes. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Former Queensland centre Brent Tate has given a brutal assessment of why Dally M Medallist Nicho Hynes was dumped from the NSW side for State of Origin game II.

Hynes tallied the highest tally by an individual player in the history of the Dally M award last season and earned his State of Origin debut in Adelaide.

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But Hynes was only injected late when Tom Trbojevic went off injured, playing in an unfamiliar position of centre.

He also made a blunder, which led to the matchwinning try in game one.

With the Blues trailing 18-16 with seven minutes remaining, Hynes — and to be fair Nathan Cleary — missed a tackle on Cameron Munster, who put Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow away for what would be the decisive try.

And the footy world was stunned when Hynes was dumped from the side completely, having gone back to two matches which were less than the lofty standard the halfback has set for himself.

It was a 54-10 loss to Melbourne on Sunday. Picture: NRL Imagery

With Mitchell Moses coming into the No. 7 jersey and North Queensland’s Reece Robson coming onto the bench in the utility role, there was no place for Hynes.

But Tate, who was involved in 23 State of Origin matches including five complete series wins, said he felt Hynes wasn’t up to rep level.

“I said before the first game, I love Nicho, I love what he’s about, I just don’t think he’s an Origin player myself,” Tate told SENQ Mornings.

“I just don’t see that in Nicho and I don’t mean that to be disrespectful, I’m just calling it how I see it.

“I would’ve been more than happy for them (NSW) to pick him at seven, I really think the Queenslanders would’ve went after like they did in Game I.”

Hynes was in a three-horse race with Moses and Adam Reynolds but it was the Eels half that got the nod after an electrifying performance on Monday.

Brent Tate bled for QLD. Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Tate said the Blues couldn’t have gone wrong with Moses or Reynolds in the absence of the injured Nathan Cleary.

But he said Fittler waiting to announced his side until Tuesday showed the pressure was on the coach to save his job.

“I think they’ve pulled the right rein either having Mitch Moses or Adam Reynolds, either one of those guys in the Blues side at halfback, they’re as good as one and other, they both bring some really good qualities,” he added.

“Freddy (has) made some big calls, if he doesn’t win this game, he’s gone, and I think he’ll be well aware of that.

“I guess that’s why they’ve had so much conjecture and waited so long mulling over what team to pick.”

Hynes was left out of the game II squad. Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images

Tate follows former Blues coach Phil Gould who claimed Hynes was not ready to handle the NSW No. 7 jersey.

Gould said on Channel 9’s 100% Footy on Monday night that Hynes was “a bit fragile” after his Origin debut.

“He was upset that he was thrown in there late,” Gould said.

“He missed a tackle. And maybe that would have cost them the game.

“He kind of came across that he was lacking a bit of confidence. So it’s not just this week’s performance but last week’s as well and how he responded to that.”

Gould added that Hynes still had a ways to go to run a team at Origin level and said he would have performed well off the bench.

Originally published as ‘Not an Origin player’: Nicho Hynes smacked down by Origin great