Hynes stars in Sharks rout of Canberra

By GEORGE CLARKE

Cronulla are heaping praise on Indigenous star Nicho Hynes after he guided his side to another NRL preliminary final with the win over Canberra.

Hynes turned Saturday’s 32-12 semi-final win over Canberra on its head late in the first half when he set up Ronaldo Mulitalo for the Sharks’ opener and then crossed for a try of his own.

The No.7 has been a punching bag for the Sharks’ September struggles under Fitzgibbon – they had won just one of six finals games across the last three seasons prior to this year – and had been accused of failing to fire when it mattered most.

Nicho Hynes turned the semi-final on its head with his brilliance for the Sharks. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

But over the last fortnight, Hynes has steered his side past the Sydney Roosters and the Raiders to book a preliminary final meeting away to Melbourne next Friday.

Hynes and five-eighth Braydon Trindall combined strongly on Saturday, with Fitzgibbon keen to stress how their chemistry had put the Sharks to within one win of a first grand final appearance since 2016.

“He has got to get credit for that because he doesn’t get much,” Fitzgibbon said of Hynes.

“He’s had a strong season, but in one week it’s ‘Tricky’ (Trindall) and the other week it’s Nicho, but it’s just pleasing to see both of them play well together.

“That’s the most important thing for us.”

Hynes tormented the Raiders’ feeble edge defence on Saturday and finished with six goals from six attempts.

Addin Fonua-Blake led a powerhouse performance from Cronulla’s pack. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

His playmaking was only allowed to shine thanks to a Sharks forward pack led by Addin Fonua-Blake.

With Tom Hazelton concussed a few minutes after coming on midway through the first half, Fonua-Blake lived up to the billing as the Sharks’ big off-season recruit and punched out over an hour in the middle to carry Cronulla over the line.

“He’s an impressive man not only as a footy player but he’s an impressive man,” Fitzgibbon said.

“He’s done it the hard way and he has learned some valuable lessons over the course of his life, but he’s stepping up right now.

“I thought when we lost Tommy, we just went, ‘Adz, we’re going to have to source you’.

“He went ‘sweet man’. I said, ‘Well, how long can you go?’ He said, ‘As long as you want’.”

Indigenous halfback Braydon Trindall during the NRL Semi-Final match between the Canberra Raiders and the Cronulla Sharks.

Hazelton will not play against the Storm due to category one concussion symptoms with Oregon Kaufusi the man likely to come in.

Few will give Fitzgibbon’s men a chance but they face Melbourne on Friday having won nine of their last 10 games.

“The boys are hungry and they’re making the right choices and decisions,” Fitzgibbon said.

“We’ve been together for that period of time now that it’s time for us to stand up or we’re going to make some changes.

“We play in Melbourne, that’s a challenge, but we’re ready for that.”

AAP