Storm star’s ‘emotional’ exit call

The Storm wanted to keep him, and Nicho Hynes desperately wanted to stay, but the lure of a guaranteed starting spot proved too tempting for the rising utility who is off to be the leading man in Craig Fitzgibbon’s rebuild at the Sharks.

Speaking for the first time since he inked a three-year deal to move to the Shire, Hynes explained just how tough a decision it was to leave the club that handed him his NRL debut and helped him immensely off the field.

Hynes, who turns 25 this week, has been in and out of the Storm team but has shown his true potential filling in for Ryan Papenhuyzen while the star fullback has dealt with ongoing concussion symptoms since Magic Round.

Hynes’s value has soared in recent weeks, with clubs offering him a starting role that the Storm simply couldn’t guarantee with Papenhuyzen, Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes all signed on long-term deals.

“I’d love to stay at this club. This club has given me everything,” Hynes said after he helped the Storm to another win in front of his friends and family on the Central Coast.

Storm Nicho Hynes having a day out playing back in his old stomping ground of the Central Coast #NRLWarriorsStorm

“If I could’ve stayed here and started – I don’t want to take anything away from the Sharks – but I would have loved to have stayed here and been here forever because this is the club that gave me the opportunity to be an NRL player and live my dream.”

Reaching the decision was one thing, but breaking the news to Craig Bellamy and Frank Ponissi was on another level.

“That was the toughest thing having to tell Craig and Frank and all the boys because I love this club and all the people in it,” he said.

“I was really dreading having to call Craig and Frank over to decide to have that conversation, but we were all honest with each other from the start and they were happy with me to speak with other clubs to see what my best opportunity was.

“But they did want to keep me and I had a lot of conversations with them about that.

“It got a little bit emotional, as it would, but they knew that they probably couldn’t keep me because I wanted to be a starting player. I was dreading it, but I’m glad I did it with them because I really wanted them to know before the media found out.

Nicho Hynes has taken the NRL by storm in 2021. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

“I look at Craig as a really big role model for me. He’s been unreal for me and my footy, and he’s just a really good dude who looks after his players. Frank is the same. What they do for this club is unbelievable.”

It seemed the Broncos were in the box seat to snare Hynes’s services moving forward, but a meeting with Fitzgibbon put that to bed, with the Sharks announcing his signature a couple of days later.

“To the media it seemed to happen quickly, but Fitzy was in contact with me for a couple of weeks,” Hynes revealed.

“He was the one who made me decide to go to Cronulla because he sold his vision of the club and the way he wants to go to the club and turn things around.

“Everything he told me is similar to how Bellamy is, and if I go somewhere, I want it to be similar to how we do things here because this club is successful.

“I want to help build the club I go to, and Craig Fitzgibbon is a really good dude. Even Craig and Frank gave him a rap, so I guess I’ve got their blessing, too.”

Hynes has shone in the No.1 jersey for the Storm, but with Will Kennedy enjoying a breakout year at Cronulla, it appears as though the Melbourne maestro will shift to the halves next season.

“People can say it’s daunting because I’m going there to be the main man, but I’m going to work as hard as I can to make sure I go there to play good footy and win games of football,” he said.

“If I go there and don’t do that, then that’s no one’s fault but mine.”

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