Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes has deleted social media and blocked out the external noise as he looks to win his first finals game in Cronulla colours on Friday night.
The playmaker has lost all four finals he's played since joining the club in 2022. Overall, Cronulla have dropped their past seven post-season matches in a trend dating back to 2018.
A 37-10 loss to Melbourne last week was the latest in that run, sending Cronulla into a sudden-death semi-final against the North Queensland Cowboys at Allianz Stadium on Friday night.
Rightly or wrongly, much of the blame has fallen on Hynes' shoulders, with the halfback aware he will be judged on his finals record throughout his career.
A Magic return from injury
"It's a tag that will forever be there for the rest of the career," Hynes said.
"From 2022, I was fresh, I'd only played halfback for 20 games. In that Cowboys game I felt like I played a pretty good game and we just didn't get the result. The Roosters game last year was similar, we only lost by a field goal as well.
"The game on the weekend, it's one where I needed to be better, I'll own that performance. As a team we need to be better. We need to be better in all areas to win this game of football and I need to own my performance to get us into a better position to win the game."
Match: Sharks v Cowboys
Finals Week 2 -
home Team
Sharks
4th Position
away Team
Cowboys
5th Position
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
While the Sharks were comprehensively beaten across the board on Saturday night, Hynes has received a disproportionate share of the criticism.
It's a situation the halfback has had to navigate for years, with the 28-year-old developing into one of the most scrutinised players in the NRL.
The speculation reached fever pitch on Monday when Panthers legend Greg Alexander called for Daniel Atkinson to partner Braydon Trindall in the halves this weekend.
It's criticism Hynes is oblivious to, a social media ban helping him stay focused on the task at hand.
"I've been off it for a few weeks now," he said. "I knew coming back from injury and going into the finals, no one's going to help me on [social media]. The only people who are going to help me are the players here and myself.
"Going on there to search for someone talking negatively about me or positively, it's pointless. I knew as soon as I was back from injury I didn't want to be on it. I'm just focused on playing footy.
"All I try to do is wake up every day happy, try to make a positive impact on people's lives and play some good footy. If some people want to bring you down for it, that's a them problem. I can't change that. I can only control what I can control and that's by being a positive person."
Turn your porch lights off!
Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon has also ignored the outside noise, naming Hynes as halfback for Friday's final. Hynes, for that matter, expressed his desire to remain in the No.7 jumper for the weeks and years to come.
The playmaker was quick to move on from Saturday's loss to Melbourne, hosting a number of teammates for dinner on Monday night as they regroup and turn their focus to Friday's clash with the Cowboys.
While the external noise has grown considerably, Hynes' teammates have rallied around their playmaker and thrown their support behind him.
It's not lost on any of them that the Storm were dominant from the opening whistle, with their pack steamrolling the Sharks.
Nicholas Hynes Try
Winger Ronaldo Mulitalo said the criticism of Hynes is not justified and said the entire squad must lift their game to defeat the Cowboys on Friday.
"We love him," Mulitalo told NRL.com. "The only way I see us going all the way is with Nicho in the squad. We need him in the team and we need to perform for him.
"He can't do anything if we're not going anywhere and we're not catching the ball in the backfield. How do you expect him to kick a ball when we haven't got out of our own half?
"We're looking forward to him getting another opportunity this week but it's a team effort, there's 17 blokes on the field. Everyone's going to have their opinions but internally is all that matters."
Hynes may have shrugged off the external noise but the magnitude of Friday's match is not lost on him.
The halfback knows how important a victory is for both his legacy and his team and he's desperate to lead the Sharks to a drought-breaking victory.
"I've been wanting a moment like this forever," he said. "I want to win finals games, I want to play in grand finals, I want to compete for grand finals.
"This whole club is hungry for it so we're ready to go."
