By Emma Kemp,Roy Ward
Copyright theage
And then you think back to the interview he did just before this season, when he told Fox League he’d “learned a hell of a lot of lessons last year [and] I’m really glad it’s happened”. There was “a lot said about me in the media at the backend of the year”, and it took the off-season to really find himself again and understand what had to happen to channel those lessons into playing better footy.
“Staying away from people’s opinions and social media, and just really focusing on my life and controlling what I can control,” he said in March. “I can’t control what people are going to say. I can’t control the experts on TV talking about certain things. It’s just not worrying about the naysayers out there.”
Hynes concluded he was starting 2025 “probably the happiest I’ve ever been in my life, the most ready I’ve ever been for a game of footy”. As if to prove his point, the naysayers in the comments section posted things such as “Wait ’till round 1 and we will get the sad-looking Nicho again” and “He’s ready until it’s a big game” (there was also nice stuff like “Greatest endorsement for the game Nicho Hynes” and “We are with you Nicho. Go hard!“).
Most NRL viewers will have some idea about the opinions which follow Hynes wherever he goes. Let’s call it assumed knowledge. The big-money move from the Storm that automatically started his Sharks career under “under the magnifying glass” (teammate Jesse Ramien’s words this week). The 2022 Dally M Medal in his first season as a full-time starter and the first of two “spirit of the game” Provan-Summons Medals.
