{"id":900835,"date":"2026-09-22T03:32:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T03:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/900835\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T03:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T03:32:20","slug":"nrl-news-2026-nicho-hynes-to-change-cronulla-sharks-position-with-braydon-trindall-andrew-johns-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/900835\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2026, Nicho Hynes to change Cronulla Sharks position with Braydon Trindall, Andrew Johns opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrew Johns<\/a> has sparked debate by calling for Cronulla<\/a> star Nicho Hynes<\/a> to be shifted out of the No.7 jersey and into the No.6 role next season.<\/p>\n

Johns believes Hynes is a naturally instinctive runner rather than a traditional game-managing halfback, arguing that a move to five-eighth would free him up and ease the pressure he carries as the club\u2019s marquee million-dollar player.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nicho Hynes on the sideline after being knocked out.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

Cronulla once again made the second week of NRL<\/a> finals but were bundled out of the premiership race by the Roosters on Saturday night<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hynes was knocked out of the contest in the opening minutes and had to watch on from the bench.<\/p>\n

But even when he played in the weeks prior, Johns noted Hynes struggled to lead the team in the absence of superstar halves partner Braydon Trindall, who carried a shoulder injury into the finals.<\/p>\n

Now the eighth Immortal wants coach Craig Fitzgibbon<\/a> to pull the trigger and switch their jerseys before next season starts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the first thing next year is Trindall\u2019s got to put the seven on, and Nicho\u2019s got to put the six on,\u201d Johns said on Nine\u2019s 100% Footy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s there for another three years\u2026 this year they\u2019ve been playing that way. Trindall\u2019s been the on-ball halfback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think psychologically, just changing the number (will help Hynes).\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

John made similar comments after Cronulla\u2019s shock 38-18 loss to Parramatta in round 26, saying \u201cwhen you\u2019re the highest paid player, you own the result, especially if you wear the seven on your back. With that money comes responsibility\u201d.<\/p>\n

With Trindall missing from that game, Hynes was outshone by rookie teammate Niwhai Puru, who is now heading to the Perth Bears.<\/p>\n

Sharks legend Paul Gallen agreed with Johns on Monday, backing the idea that Trindall already operates as the team\u2019s dominant organiser.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTrindall steers the team around the park; he\u2019s more of the seven on-ball play,\u201d Gallen said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Braydon Trindall is the better halfback.\u00a0NRL Imagery\/Brett Costello<\/p>\n

\u201cNicho\u2019s a great runner of the ball. He played fullback at Melbourne Storm and did a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

The suggested jersey swap would not dramatically alter the Cronulla team structure, with Hynes and Trindall already playing in the roles Johns is proposing.<\/p>\n

But Johns believes the subtle change could lift pressure off Hynes\u2019 shoulders and allow him to return to his most dynamic, instinctive style of play that saw him win a Dally M Medal in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andrew Johns has sparked debate by calling for Cronulla star Nicho Hynes to be shifted out of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":900836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-900835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}