Hynes will be out to prove his critics wrong in 2025.
Cronulla captain Cameron McInnes insists there’s no pressure on Nicho Hynes from within the Sharks’ squad after a disappointing season in 2024 that saw him come under fire from critics. Cronulla’s squad headed off to Las Vegas on Thursday for their NRL season opener against Penrith at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday week (AEDT), rocked by the news winger Sione Katoa will miss the majority of the season with a shoulder injury.
Katoa is expected to be sidelined for up to five months after being hurt attempting to make a tackle and landing awkwardly on his shoulder in their pre-season match against the Warriors two weeks ago. The speedster has undergone a shoulder reconstruction but the Sharks don’t expect to have him back on the park until round 16 – and that would be the best-case scenario.
Sam Stonestreet looms as Katoa’s most likely replacement after impressing on the wing in his five NRL games in 2024. The versatile Daniel Atkinson could also slide into the backline after primarily being used in the halves. But the loss of Katoa is a huge blow for the Sharks after the Tongan international scored 17 tries last season and was a key part of their run to the preliminary finals.
The Sharks were bundled out in the last-four by eventual grand final winners Penrith, and will be looking to exact some revenge when they come up against the four-time reigning premiers in Vegas. The second of the NRL’s American double-header pits Hynes against champion Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary and offers Cronulla’s former Dally M Medal winner a fresh chance to hit back at some of the ugly claims made about him last year.
The big-game credentials of Hynes were questioned after the Sharks were thumped by the Storm in the first week of the finals, and he was powerless to help stop the Panthers marching to a fourth-straight premiership as Cleary and co. ended their season. Hynes has twice been axed by the Blues after underwhelming displays in the State of Origin and many thought his Sharks halves partner Braydon Trindall overtook Hynes as the dominant playmaker last year, despite being on a fraction of his $1.1 million-per-season salary.
Sharks teammates back Nicho Hynes after brutal criticism
But Sharks skipper McInnes insists Hynes is still the main man and says the weight of expectation on the 28-year-old’s shoulders will mainly come from his own high standards. “There’s no extra pressure from our team other than he puts on himself. He’s gone through things no one else has had to,” McInnes said. I’m not sure if it’s a one-on-one game between those two (Hynes and Cleary). He’s worked as hard this pre-season as everyone has.”
Hynes was hampered by injury last season and sent a scare though Sharks camp during last weekend’s 40-10 thrashing of Canberra in pre-season after coming off early to ice one of his legs. He later clarified it was only a precautionary measure for a slightly “tight abductor” muscle. But Hynes scored a try and set up two more against the Raiders to suggest he was getting back to his best in 2025.
I thought he was outstanding the other night. He controlled the game really well, and that’ll be his job come next Sunday afternoon (AEDT),” McInnes said about Cronulla’s No.7. Hynes has been open and honest about his struggles on and off the field and says he aims to take his lessons from the past two years into this season.
“Sometimes things don’t go to plan and you turn them into lessons,” he told AAP. “I’m really happy and feeling the best I’ve ever felt. This is a year where I’m just really knuckling down and focusing on myself.” The Sharks and Panthers will lock horns at Allegiant Stadium after the Warriors and Raiders open the NRL season in Las Vegas on March 2 (AEDT).
