As NRL clubs look hopefully towards next season - we pessimistically ponder the worst-case scenario for each of the 17 teams in 2023.

4. Cronulla Sharks: Clubs find ways to shut down Hynes

Nicho Hynes may have come away from 2022 with the Dally M but he is going into 2023 with something else entirely - a target on his back.

He ended the season equal third for try assists (21) and first for linebreak assists (29), and that won't go unnoticed by coaches planning their pre-season.

NRL Rd 2 - Sharks v Eels
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 19: Nicholas Hynes of the Sharks runs with the ball during the round two NRL match between the Cronulla Sharks and the Parramatta Eels at PointsBet Stadium, on March 19, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Hynes will be targeted and any club that unlocks the key to shutting the star halfback down might just have found a way to beach the Sharks' premiership chances.

Unless Blayke Brailey, Matt Moylan and William Kennedy can stand up around Hynes and provide a new focal point of attack, it will be a hard year for the reigning Dally M king.

1 COMMENT

  1. Before I read this, I thought “the worst that can happen” would be the same for each club: injury to one of its spine.

    However – Dolphins, Dragons, West and Warriors – all about the club pulling together. Cows and Roosters – the same (to a lesser degree).

    Perhaps this tells us that the influence of the coach – his ability to plan, organise, motivate and control his squad – is at least as important as that of any one player.