Nicho Hynes caught in ugly $1 million fallout as Cronulla Sharks lose gun half to Dragons

Andrew Voss has questioned whether the Cronulla Sharks have made a mistake with Nicho Hynes and Daniel Atkinson after the latter reportedly agreed to a three-year deal with St George Illawarra. In what would be a crushing blow for his former NRL team, Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has reportedly convinced the 23-year-old Atkinson to switch clubs.

According to News Corp, Atkinson has agreed to a three-year deal worth $500,000 per season to join the Dragons from 2026. Due to the NRL's new 'cooling off' rule, the Sharks would have 10 days to try and convince Atkinson to change his mind.

However the lure of a starting spot in the halves at the Dragons appears to be too good to refuse. Atkinson emerged as a genuine first-grade talent in 2024, but is stuck behind Hynes and Braydon Trindall at Cronulla.

With Hynes on a long-term deal worth $1 million per season and Trindall recently re-signing, the writing is on the wall that Atkinson is the odd man out. The Sharks rate Atkinson highly and there was even talk of moving Hynes to fullback to accommodate the 23-year-old in the halves.

But it looks as though the Dragons have scored a massive coup and snared one of the best young emerging halves in the comp. With Kyle Flanagan off contract at the end of 2025, Atkinson will likely partner Lachlan Ilias in the halves for the Red V.

Ilias joined the Dragons this off-season after Ben Hunt's departure to the Broncos, and will partner Kyle Flanagan in the 6 and 7 in 2025. But a partnership between Ilias and Atkinson would seemingly be one of the best young halves combos in the NRL.

Tellingly, the Sharks are refusing to entertain the prospect of releasing Atkinson early to join the Dragons in 2025. "They feel like they can win a premiership with him in 2025 and he's a key part of that," journalist Michael Carayannis said on SEN radio on Thursday. "Don't forget this time last year they released Matt Moylan to give Atkinson the role of the premier back-up half."

Voss questioned whether the Sharks would "live to regret" not pushing harder to keep Atkinson. "At one stage this year there were suggestions an Atkinson-Trindall combination would be better than Hynes and Trindall," Voss said. Cronulla fans have also been left divided over Atkinson's reported departure, with many suggesting it might be a mistake considering how hot and cold Hynes and Trindall can be.

Shane Flanagan chuffed with how Dragons are shaping up

Speaking earlier on Wednesday, Shane Flanagan revealed how spirits are high in Dragons camp due to his off-season signing spree. As well as getting Ilias from Souths, Flanagan has also snared big guns Valentine Holmes, Clint Gutherson and Damien Cook.

The coach said Cook and Gutherson would help fill a leadership void created by the departures of Hunt and Zac Lomax. "They're four quality players and we've got Nathan Lawson, who will be on board after his last tournament over with the rugby sevens, and I'm excited about coaching him as well," Flanagan said. "We're a lot better side than we were last year and we've got some good times ahead hopefully."

Flanagan said pre-season testing was also tangible proof the Dragons were in better shape ahead of the 2025 season. "Without a doubt, in all measurements - their strength, their fitness, their speed times, their conditioning - as a group we're a lot better,'' he said. "Fat content, muscle mass, all those things that our sports science department look after, we're in a lot better starting position."

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Damien Cook excited for homecoming at Dragons

Cook grew up near Wollongong and made his NRL debut for the Dragons, and is excited about coming home. "I said to a few of the boys, in my junior footy this was the field you wanted to play on at the end, where all the grand finals were, so some good memories growing up here, it's good to be back," the 33-year-old said.

"Last year they just missed out on the eight, but probably deserved to be there, so hopefully I can do my part, along with the other boys that have come in. Their training standards are very high, and they go hard, and these young boys are really challenging us and keeping us on our toes.

"I think we just need to work on our consistency, not just in the game, but also week-to-week, having that standard of finding what we do well and doing that over and over again during the game and then again week-to-week. I think that's what you see the great sides at the moment like Penrith are doing really well."

with AAP