{"id":289036,"date":"2023-09-08T02:04:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T02:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=289036"},"modified":"2023-09-08T02:04:36","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T02:04:36","slug":"the-mind-games-of-nicho-hynes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/rugby-league\/the-mind-games-of-nicho-hynes\/","title":{"rendered":"The mind games of Nicho Hynes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By <\/span>Dan Walsh<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nicho Hynes has had a challenging season after taking all before him in 2022.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Steven Siewert<\/cite><\/p>\n

Save articles for later<\/h3>\n

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n

Nicho Hynes wheels around his backyard, Steeden in hand. Long locks flowing. Ray Warren in his ears. A chip and chase here. 100-metre intercept there. If he\u2019s had a big breakfast, maybe even a shoulder charge for older, simpler times\u2019 sake.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a lovely scene, with not as much salt and pepper as you might think.<\/p>\n

Because several hours before the Roosters descend on Shark Park with seasons and semi-finals on the line, Hynes will be right there in his backyard.<\/p>\n

Paul Gallen had a key to the Shark Park gates for much of his career, club trainers sick of getting called in to open up the gym or ice baths at all hours for the workaholic Cronulla captain.<\/p>\n

Hynes needs a set too. As has been his game-day custom for the past year, the Dally M medal winner takes to the turf long before fans, teammates, security and hospitality staff turn up for work. Long before he\u2019s needed, too.<\/p>\n

Usually with headphones on, ball in hand, Hynes will have the stadium pretty much to himself as he treads the footballing boards in a game-day dress rehearsal.<\/p>\n

The childhood fantasies of match-winners and miracle moments though? They stay in another time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think anyone was going to notice that,\u201d Hynes laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of visualisation and it\u2019s something that just prepares me before a game. I put myself in the moment early in the day so that when it gets to kick-off, I feel like I\u2019ve been there before.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I can nail everything I need to do. I\u2019m looking for my first action when I do it. My first kick in the game.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nicho Hynes at Cronulla Beach.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>NRL Photos<\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cMy first defensive movements. My first kick at goal, hopefully I\u2019ll take that back this week (Hynes gave up the kicking tee last week to manage a quad injury).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just looking at different parts of the field where I\u2019ll find myself with different kicks, different defensive situations. I\u2019ll try to picture different attacking sets and positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m walking around visualising it all. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m chasing an extra thing I need to do. I\u2019ve put the work in during the week. It\u2019s just my thing and my way of getting into the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hynes\u2019 resilience and refreshing candour around mental health has rightly been celebrated since his NRL arrival with Melbourne.<\/p>\n

This year he has weathered off-field drama he described as \u201cthe most challenging time of my life\u201d when his mother, Julie, spent time in custody and was found guilty of drug charges.<\/p>\n

In a purely footballing sense, 2023 has also delivered the first hurdles \u2013 and stumbles \u2013 of Hynes\u2019 career.<\/p>\n

With last year\u2019s Dally M medal (secured with the highest points tally in history), came expectation by the bucketload. A $6 million, six-year Sharks extension added plenty.<\/p>\n

The fervour and fever of Origin selection fizzled into Hynes feeling like \u201cI let the state down\u201d before he was axed.<\/p>\n

A glaring spotlight, niggling injuries and uncharacteristic on-field frustrations played out in a tripping charge and back-chatting to the referee against Manly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been easy for him,\u201d coach Craig Fitzgibbon tells this masthead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been uncomfortable at times for him. I think he felt the spotlight and the pressure. But his response was \u2018I\u2019m going to dominate\u2019. That\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n

\u2018Nicho went after the solution. He said, \u2018I\u2019m doing something about this, I\u2019m working harder\u2019.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing he\u2019s never, ever shied away from, which you\u2019ve got to respect, he never sat back or withdrew.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went the other way. He doubled down and did more work. Sometimes, the harder you try, you take yourself further away from what you\u2019re aiming for.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect his workrate and ethic. Nicho went after the solution. He said, \u2018I\u2019m doing something about this, I\u2019m working harder\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Fitzgibbon \u2013 one-time owner of the record for most tackles in an Origin game \u2013 admires your work ethic, you\u2019re going to be alright.<\/p>\n

Cronulla\u2019s late-season resurgence, with Hynes playing what Fitzgibbon sees as \u201cmore controlled, measured performances\u201d has bookmakers unable to split the home side and the fast-finishing Roosters on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Mind\u2019s eye: Nicho Hynes at Sharks training.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Sharks Media<\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still in his second year as an NRL halfback so he\u2019s picking all of it up pretty quickly,\u201d Fitzgibbon says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to say, \u2018get out there and control a game\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually getting it done… you don\u2019t want to let moments go past. But that judgment of which moments to take, which moments do you leave alone and not take a risk, it\u2019s not as easy as it sounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a reason most of the experienced halves are the ones playing the best footy at this time of year.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Hynes is cramming as though halfbacks sit the HSC. He spoke during the week of learning from each lesson presented this year \u2013 Origin axings, form drop-offs and Cronulla losses among them.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old has long figured that his brain is a muscle to be trained and looked after like any other as an athlete. His Dally M acceptance speech last year included a poignant nod to his friend and mindset coach Jarred Brown, who Hynes employed when he moved from Melbourne to Sydney in anticipation of the added exposure and pressure.<\/p>\n

His latest pre-game visualisation techniques are another trick of the trade, taught by another professional Hynes prefers to keep under wraps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really want to expose him right now,\u201d Hynes says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a big hitter in that space and a lot of people want to be mentored by him. I won\u2019t give that one away because he\u2019s a guy that I really like working with and I want to keep him to myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut even that three-game stretch of losses (which threatened to drop the Sharks out of the finals race in July) I\u2019ve never really been in that position before, that was the first time in my career that I\u2019ve lost three in row.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s plenty of lessons learned from that, I\u2019ve simplified my game plan and the way I play a little bit. I\u2019m just trying to stick to the little things. When they work well for our team, we play well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stream the NRL Premiership 2023 live and free on <\/b>9Now<\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n

Sports news, results and expert commentary. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dan Walsh Nicho Hynes has had a challenging season after taking all before him in 2022.Credit: Steven Siewert Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Nicho Hynes wheels around his backyard, Steeden in hand. Long locks flowing. Ray Warren in his ears. A chip […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe mind games of Nicho Hynes - Sports Life Tale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/rugby-league\/the-mind-games-of-nicho-hynes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The mind games of Nicho Hynes - Sports Life Tale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Dan Walsh Nicho Hynes has had a challenging season after taking all before him in 2022.Credit: Steven Siewert Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. 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