Accused by some of being too nice and not nice enough by others, polarising Cronulla star Nicho Hynes “doesn’t give a rats” about criticism that comes his way anymore.<\/p>\n
Arriving in Melbourne as the Sharks look to upset the Storm in Friday night’s preliminary final at AAMI Park, Hynes is again in the headlines \u2014 this time for his “salty” attitude.<\/p>\n
The veteran halfback, who played three seasons with Melbourne before shifting to Cronulla in 2022, has dismissed the personal criticism as “noise”.<\/p>\n
The enduring legacy of the 2023 grand final <\/a><\/p>\n On Sunday, the Broncos and Panthers will face off in the finals for the first time since the 2023 grand final, but the memory of that night still hangs over both sides.<\/p>\n “I just worry about what my teammates and coaches need from me and external noise is external noise \u2014 I don’t see it, I don’t hear it,” Hynes said.<\/p>\n “I couldn’t give a rats about what people say about me \u2026 there’s nothing left they can say more about me because it’s already been said.”<\/p>\n He said he will always defend his Sharks “family”, which was why he has become more outspoken of late after previously being a media darling for his openness around his mental health and as an Indigenous advocate.<\/p>\n “If someone disses your family I think anyone would go out of their way to say something and speak up about it,” said the 29-year-old Wiradjuri man.<\/p>\n “I take things personally when people try and diss my family.<\/p>\n “Maybe I’ve just had enough of it over the last few years with people disrespecting the Sharks. I’ll fight for the Sharks until I stop wearing these jerseys.”<\/p>\n The 2022 Dally M Medallist was irked by a perceived lack of respect shown towards his team, who had won just one of six finals games across the last three seasons prior to this year.<\/p>\n In 2025, they finished fifth, then eliminated the Sydney Roosters and minor premiers Canberra en route to the preliminary final.<\/p>\n They have also won nine of their last 10 matches, dropping only one game since their last trip to Melbourne where they were thumped 30-6 by the Storm.<\/p>\n He admitted they had used criticism of the team as motivation for their early finals campaign and are now happy to let their results speak for themselves.<\/p>\n “I’m not in it to prove it to anyone, I’m just in it to prove ourselves \u2014 we deserve to be here and we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t,” Hynes said.<\/p>\n “The respect, that’s all other people’s opinions and obviously we’ve probably used that a little bit in that first final with motivation, but at the moment I just want to get the job done for the team.<\/p>\n “If you get the job done that’s how you earn respect.”<\/p>\n