Nicho Hynes put his hand up to take on the goalkicking duties for New South Wales — and that initiative could be the best indication yet of where he’s at mentally ahead of Wednesday’s series opener.
Hynes’ rocky and short-lived taste of State of Origin has been well-documented. He was named on the bench in game one last year and thrown into the unfamiliar position of right centre.
He missed a crucial tackle that led to a Queensland try and was ultimately dropped by ex-coach Brad Fittler for the remaining two games.
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The 27-year-old will get his first start, in his preferred position — halfback — on Wednesday night and has been surrounded by speculation since entering camp.
Hynes has been battling a calf niggle and failed to finish his final game for the Sharks before selection. Nonetheless Michael Maguire picked Hynes, but had Roosters veteran Luke Keary on standby
After a false start, Hynes finally hit the ground running at training late last week and was declared a sure starter.
And now, as assistant coach Matt King revealed to NRL 360 on Tuesday night, Hynes has taken on an extra level of responsibility — goalkicking.
King gives a look behind the NSW curtain | 04:17
“Nicho will take the reins, he’s got the better percentage (out of all of the options),” King said.
“I think Zac (Lomax) would play second fiddle to him but we’re blessed with goal-kickers for sure.
“Nicho will get the points for us tomorrow night.”
Speaking on NRL 360, News Corp journalist Dave Riccio declared that Hynes taking on the goalkicking is: “A great telltale sign that this guy is ready.”
“I think it says a lot about the mentality of Nicho Hynes,” he said.
“For everything we’re talking about, for all apparently the pressure that he’s going into this game (under), he’s decided to put his hand up and take on the goalkicking duties as well.
“That’s a big call, he could easily back out of that and say ‘no, Crichton or Lomax you do the job, I’ll focus on running the team.’
“But I think that says a lot about his mental strength, preparation and readiness for this game to take on the added job.”
NRL 360 host Braith Anasta agreed, saying it was “the right call” and believes it could help build his confidence too if he nails some kicks early.
“That’s putting your hand up, that’s owning it,” he added.
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And confidence is going to be key for Hynes because as fellow News Corp journalist Paul Crawley predicted, Queensland will “put the heat on him.”
Retired English international James Graham thinks the heat will be put on Hynes in more ways than one.
“Of course Queensland are going to go after Nicho Hynes. But not just physically, they’re going to go after him mentally,” he said on NRL 360.
“We all know he didn’t perform particularly well in last year’s series and I think the Queensland players will be quick to remind him of that — and quick to remind him of the fact Nathan Cleary was in camp and Mitchell Moses had a blinder on the weekend.
“They’re going to go after him and test him mentally, it’s part of the game. That’s the reality. You can imagine it, the first scrum and he’s feeding it in, ‘hey Nicho’ — it happens.
“Nicho is very strong mentally, but obviously in that cauldron if he makes a mistake the Queensland players are going to be quick to remind him.”
Crawley agreed, adding: “Also his most recent game against Penrith, by his standards it was a shocker. By NRL halfback standards it was a shocker.”
“There’s no doubt that come Thursday morning, Nicho Hynes will be one of the major stories coming out of this game,” Crawley said.
“He’ll be the hero or he’ll be the villain… but he’ll probably be the most marked man on the field.”