Nicho Hynes at centre of positional switch development amid crisis at Cronulla
The change in position could be just what the Cronulla star needs to reignite his stuttering season.
Cronulla could be ready to shift reigning Dally M Medal winner Nicho Hynes into fullback, following a potentially season-ending injury to first-choice No.1 Will Kennedy. Cronulla's NRL season went from bad to worse over the weekend when Kennedy limped off the field with a hamstring injury in the first five minutes of the 28-0 defeat to the Panthers. It came just days after co-captain Dale Finucane was ruled out for the rest of the year.
The Sharks are sweating on scans to determine the extent of Kennedy's injury but the club's initial fears were that he would be rubbed out of the rest of the season. Cronulla's second string No.1 Kade Dykes is also gone for the rest of 2023, leaving Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon with two likely options.
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The first is to recall Matt Moylan, who began his career at Penrith as a fullback, before establishing himself as a five-eighth. Moylan's patchy form in 2023 has seen him replaced at No.6 by Braydon Trindall but Fitzgibbon could be tempted to use him at fullback if he wants to keep the Hynes-Trindall halves pairing together.
The more likely option is that Moylan will return to the halves and Hynes will shift to the fullback role he excelled at during his time with the Melbourne Storm. Hynes featured at No.1 and off the bench in 36 games for the Storm and according to a report from the Sydney Morning Herald, he's put his hand up to play fullback in the expected absence of Kennedy.
The seventh-placed Sharks are in the middle of a three-game losing streak and face the very real possibility of missing out on the finals, despite being on the cusp of the top-four earlier this month. Hynes' erratic form has also come under scrutiny, with a sense that a positional change for the playmaker could reignite his season.
Nicho Hynes has had a tumultuous season with Cronulla
Hynes’ has had a rollercoaster 2023 with his $7 million contract extension at the Sharks tempered by his NSW axing by Brad Fittler after an ill-fated 10-minute cameo at centre in State of Origin Game I. The 27-year-old has also been supporting his mother throughout her much publicised court case.
Former NSW coach Laurie Daley said it seemed clear to him that Hynes' form slump at club level had coincided with his brutal Origin axing. “Nicho certainly conducts himself very well. His form has slipped and the fact that his form has slipped after State of Origin, you’d suggest it has affected him,” Daley said on the Big Sports Breakfast on Monday.
“A number of things can play a part but Nicho is a confidence player and he certainly doesn’t seem to have that swagger. Having said that, I think he’s still trying hard.”
Cronulla's coach has consistently gone into bat for his superstar five-eighth and insists that while his form may have wavered, the effort Hynes put in day-in, day-out has not. “Nicho’s first to admit he can play better but watching his effort and spirit, he’s actually trying his clacker off,” Fitzgibbon said.
“It’s his second year at halfback and getting the balance right about how you play and complete your sets is a development process. It doesn’t happen straight away.
“You look at the most experienced halves – all these guys have had some footy adversity along the way to becoming great halves. Nicho’s aware of it, he’s working through it and training hard. I’m backing him in – he’ll come out the other side. He cares so much, it will turn, I know it will.”
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