3 minute read

Nicho Hynes has spoken of how he took valuable lessons from Nathan Cleary in the off-season, and how he plans to help Cronulla take down the Penrith No.7.

Nicho Hynes has declared he's ready to put the advice of his idol Nathan Cleary into action in a bid to end Penrith's dynasty and send Cronulla to the NRL grand final.

Hynes put aside a week of intense scrutiny on Friday night to lead the Sharks into a preliminary final, with a solid showing in their 26-18 win over North Queensland.

The Sharks halfback has since admitted it feels as if the monkey is off both his and Cronulla's backs, after failing to land a win in either of the 2022 or 2023 finals.

Cleary also knows how it feels to have his performances in big games questioned.

While he is now a two-time Clive Churchill Medallist and the best half in the NRL, Cleary had his State of Origin output questioned along with his ability to lay on tries in big games.

Something Hynes can relate to.

"My ego is not too big that I can't ask my peers for help," Hynes said. 

"It's just what you've got to do in life, in this sort of game and this sort of arena.

"When you go through challenges, you try and get the help of someone who's been through something similar. 

"Early in his career he went through a few challenges. I'd be silly not to try and build a relationship with someone like that. 

"Maybe I'll message this week to see if he has any advice."

Hynes has previously detailed the house visit from Cleary last summer, when he invited the Penrith superstar over to talk football and dealing with the pressure.

"I picked his brain a little bit, and it was really nice," Hynes said. 

"I have a great relationship with Nathan. I'm not too ashamed to say that I respect him and idolise him for what he's done in this game. 

"I really love the bloke as a genuinely nice person. He cares about me and I care about him. 

"I'm really grateful that we can have those discussions and try and help each other out. 

"I don't really help him out. He's done everything in the game, he's more helping me out."

Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon lauded Hynes' ability to shut out the intense spotlight following Friday night's win, after high-profile calls for the No.7 to be dropped.

The 28-year-old did not overplay his hand in the win with Braydon Trindall having his best game of the year at No.6 and doing most of the kicking.

Hynes still had involvements in two tries, caused issues with his bombs and had a crucial cover tackle on Valentine Holmes early in the match with the score at 0-0.

Publically Cronulla will approach Saturday's preliminary final against the Panthers as something of a free hit, as the Panthers pursue a fifth straight grand final and fourth title.

But Hynes said he was ready to take down Cleary and the Panthers, desperate to be the team to end their dynasty.

"I'm going to try and take him and his team out, and he's going to be doing the exact same thing," Hynes said. 

"Every club's trying to end that dynasty. You've got to take your hat off and respect what they've done, three premierships in a row. 

"But you can't show them too much respect. You've got to beat them."