There’s a huge decision looming for Brad Fittler on his halves combination — and Nicho Hynes is backing himself to deliver alongside Nathan Cleary.
Hynes has been excellent for the Sharks in 2023, backing up his 2022 campaign which earned him the Dally M Medal for the game’s best player.
The 26-year-old is locked in a heated selection battle for the Blues’ No.6 jersey with incumbent Jarome Luai.
Fittler’s decision has been labelled the toughest of his coaching tenure and with a series win in 2023, he will trigger a contract extension for 2024.
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Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon has previously gone in to bat for Hynes, explaining he is ready to make his Origin debut.
“He is fearless. We keep saying it, he works at it. He goes for it and doesn‘t stop going for it. He could handle (Origin). He is ready for it,” Fitzgibbon said.
Hynes’ Origin dream is well and truly alive and the gun playmaker said he would “love” to wear the famous sky blue.
“Every little kid growing up watching Origin in the lounge room on a cold winter’s night has a dream to be there one day,” Hynes told foxsports.com.au.
“I still have a dream to play in Origin and I’d love to put on a Blues jersey.
“But it is out of my control, what I can control is playing games of footy for the Sharks and winning games.”
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As it stands, Hynes has only featured twice in representative football — playing for the Indigenous All Stars in 2022 and 2023.
However he is backing himself to “get the job done” if called upon by Fittler to take the field in the Origin furnace.
“I’d be letting myself down if I didn’t back myself, I couldn’t go into a team like that and not think I could get the job done,” Hynes said.
“That’d be letting the other players down, how can they trust me if I don’t trust myself to go out there and do a job?
“But like I’ve been saying, I just need to worry about winning games at the Sharks and keep playing good footy and the outcome will control itself.”
