The Cronulla Sharks are already moving to lock up superstar halfback Nicho Hynes for the rest of his NRL career, which coach Craig Fitzgibbon and the club believe will be one of the best in modern rugby league history.
It’s quite early on in his Cronulla career—Hynes has played just 25 games for the Sharks—but would come as no surprise to the vast majority of footy fans after watching the reigning Dally M medalist.
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Since his shining emergence with the Melbourne Storm as a replacement for injured fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen, the 26-year-old has gone from strength to strength and even went above and beyond his exploits south of the border once he took the reigns at the Shire. In just 61 appearances, Hynes has confirmed he’s a mighty asset to any team.
And so, of course, the Sharks want to make sure no one else can have him.
To do that, Cronulla powerbrokers are already putting together a four-year extension deal that will include a hefty pay hike. He signed a three-year, $600,000-a-season contract with the club when he joined ahead of the 2022 NRL season but could see that jump to as much as $900,000 every campaign if he takes up the new offer. The extension, added atop his current package, would see him playing in Cronulla’s light blue until at least 2028, if not longer.
Considering Hynes is the most recent Dally M medalist and is talked about by many as one of the few true game-breakers in the comp, a six-figure deal may even be a steal for the Sharks.
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There’s no doubt the Sharks consider Hynes their once-and-future king either.
“We want Nicho at the club for the rest of his playing career and after football as well,” Sharks chairman Steve Mace told Buzz Rothfield at the Daily Telegraph at the start of the week. “On and off the field he is what our DNA is all about. When the time is right we will sit down and have the conversation around a long-term deal.”
There’s only one thing stopping any formal conversations right now: Hynes is going through a lot off the field after his mum was found guilty of heroin supply during the NRL offseason.
The shock arrest put his All Stars appearance in doubt, though he did eventually turn out in Rotorua last weekend. Not only did he turn up, but he also played so well that he won the Preston Campbell Medal after guiding his Indigenous side to a 28-24 victory over the Maori side.
The Sporting Base expects Hynes to come to the table with the Sharks in the opening weeks of the season.
Cronulla gets their 2023 NRL campaign underway on March 4, when they host the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Shark Park. They then hit the round for away games against the Eels, Raiders, and Dragons.
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