Sharks superstar Nicho Hynes opens up on personal battle

Sharks superstar Nicho Hynes has opened up about his ongoing personal pains off the field, describing it as “the toughest time of his life” in a raw news conference on Monday.

The reigning Dally-M medalist has endured a tough offseason that has seen his mother Julie stand trial on drug charges, leaving the Cronulla halfback devastated.

Hynes has become the face of the game over the past 12 months and has never shied away from answering the tough questions or speaking out on challenging topics – but this is a unique and unfortunate situation.

Speaking to the media ahead of the club’s Round 1 clash with the Rabbitohs, Hynes opened up about his recent struggles and how he’s dealing with his mother’s ongoing legal battle.

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“It’s no secret that it was a challenging time … it was probably the toughest time in my life,” he said.

“Especially with the way it’s been talked about in the media and how my mother is being dragged through the media and how people are reacting to it.

“Everyone will have an opinion on this story and react in the way they want, but I will stand by Mom every step of the way and be there for her.

“I’m going to visit her and I don’t think what happened was the right outcome. You can’t really tell, but there’s no way in the world I’m going to leave her high and dry now.

“She needs the support and I need my support and I will have my support and she will have her support and I will be there for her.

“On sentencing day I’ll probably say a little bit more and hopefully we’ll get a better score then – but at the end of the day it is what it is and I have a job to do here at Sharks.

“It’s hard … I deal with it the best I can and fix things so I can deal with it.”

Hynes was all but ready to pull out of the recent NRL All Stars clash given his off-field circumstances, but chose to play and try to stand up as a role model for the rugby league community.

He believes that his resilience through adversity can have a positive impact on tomorrow’s generation, especially those children who have had difficult upbringings.

“I wanted to go to the All Stars and play to the best of my ability,” he said.

“The only reason for the All Stars is to inspire the next generation of Indigenous children, Maori children and even just Australian children.

“You see how we play and how we react to certain things and there are a lot of young Indigenous children who are probably walking the same line that I’m walking through.

“They may have parents in prison, they may have no parents at all and they may be struggling… hopefully I could inspire at least one kid by going and doing my best and winning that football game.

“I have a role as a role model to inspire the next generation of people and that’s what I’m here for.”

The 26-year-old is expected to miss Saturday night’s game but is hoping to have time before the captain’s run to prove his fitness and overcome a calf problem.