Nicho Hynes settling into fitting Cronulla Sharks role as NRL pressure cooker comes for Dylan Brown

Hey reader. Relax the muscles in your face.

Did you feel that? That instant change in tension? That's what it felt like watching Nicho Hynes on Friday night.

Only two-and-a-half years removed from his shock Dally M Medal win, Hynes has endured a lifetime of scrutiny and criticism.

Some of it has been warranted, some of it has been ridiculously outsized, but all of it has been expected.

It's the burden that comes with being named the NRL's best player.

As it happened: Day one of Magic Round Photo shows Roosters fullback James Tedesco fends off Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow. The Roosters beat the Dolphins 36-26 on the back of a massive James Tedesco performance after Nicho Hynes led the Sharks to a 28-18 win over the Eels in the Magic Round opener.

Throw in some untimely injuries, false starts in State of Origin and a couple of finals fade-outs and you could see the joy drain from Hynes's eyes in recent seasons.

At 28 years old, Hynes isn't exactly a new-comer, but that 2022 Dally M season was his first as a full-time starter and halfback.

He's still a relative newcomer to the most important position on the field. Hell, he only played his 100th NRL game in last season's preliminary final loss to eventual premiers Penrith.

So, watching him orchestrate Cronulla's professional win over Parramatta to kick off Magic Round felt outsized.

It wasn't the greatest win in club history — the Sharks weren't even underdogs — but still Hynes had doubters to silence, as he does seemingly every match.

Cronulla halves Nicho Hynes and Braydon Trindall have found a groove as a two-pronged attack. (Getty Images: Hannah Peters)

It came five days after he hit the post with a 45-metre shot at a game-winning field goal in a game that could have delivered a signature moment in his career, but instead ended up as another branch for critics to whack him with.

"I haven't heard about him for about four or five weeks, which means he's playing well," Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon said after the 28-18 win over the Eels.

"Last week there's some criticism there from not icing the game, which is all good, it's fair and reasonable. I don't think he has an issue.

"But he stepped up, he smashes one from 50m, one lick of paint away from having his moment in the sun. He doesn't get it and he still stepped back up time after time after time when the game's on the line."

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On Friday he had three try assists in a complete performance that can't be quantified by sheer numbers.

"He's in a really good place. He's doing so many good things for our team," captain Cameron McInnes said.

" Even when he doesn't have the ball in his hands he's controlling everything. Really happy for him. "

It came against fellow 2024 State of Origin halfback Mitchell Moses, who had an as-good if not better night. But mercifully, this was never framed as a play-off for a spot in the NSW side.

With Moses, Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai duking it out for the halves spots in Laurie Daley's Blues for the men's series opener at the end of the month, Hynes is happy to focus on himself and the teammates he plays with every week.

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"Just looking forward to playing each and every week, rock up to training, trying to get better and just very happy," he told Fox on Friday night.

Even Tedesco, after another barnstorming performance against the Dolphins that has become both expected and still somehow breathtaking to behold, admitted being usurped by Dylan Edwards in Origin helped him refocus on the Roosters.

"I haven't felt any of that pressure, just going out and knowing my process through the week and going out and playing footy that's freed me up to play some of my best footy."

After all, representative honours are nice, but the clubs are the ones that pay the players. Those team colours are the ones that are most synonymous with the individual.

Dylan Brown is already being measured against his future price tag. (Getty Images: Bradley Kanaris)

Hynes had a post-match chat with Eels five-eighth Dylan Brown, who is starting to feel a similar weight of expectation thanks to the record contract he signed with Newcastle.

Just like it's not Hynes's fault that the 2022 Dally M panel saw fit to give him 38 votes and Tedesco 33, it's not Brown's fault the Knights want to pay him $14 million over 10 years. That someone was willing to pay him more than anyone else doesn't immediately mean he can or should be expected to play better than anyone else.

But alas, every move he makes is now in a spotlight shone through a million-dollar-man prism.

Billie Jean King once famously said "pressure is a privilege" — even more so when it's accompanied by seven-figure remuneration — but knowing the truth of that statement doesn't necessarily protect you from the reality.

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There's a reason names like Greg Norman and Jana Novotna can belong to legends of their sports and still be synonymous with famous flame-outs.

All the platitudes in the world, no matter how pithy, will not save you from being crushed if you feel like you're 5,000 fathoms down.

You need support, you need care, you may need an internal realignment of what truly matters to you.

It looks like Nicho Hynes is starting to get there, and it's great news for the Sharks, the NRL and, most importantly, the man himself.

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