A difficult month spiralled on Friday night for Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes but Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon urged the the playmaker to “dust himself off.”
Hynes was ultimately dropped by the Blues over the opening loss of the State of Origin series and also missed a conversion after the siren in a 30-28 loss to the Dolphins.
And on Friday night, the No.7 had a chance to secure the win over the Bulldogs in golden point with a field goal attempt from 15 metres out in front of the posts, but missed.
AS IT HAPPENED: NRL Round 17 Friday
READ MORE: Cancer found after Olympic dream crushed by seizures
READ MORE: Rival questions Jake Paul’s extreme weight jump
Canterbury playmaker Matt Burton then capitalised moments later and slotted the match winning field goal.
In the lead up to the match, Fitzgibbon called on the media to stop asking about Hynes’ wellbeing, but he admitted after the game that this loss would “sting” his No. 7.
“You’ve got to ice your moments,” Fitzgibbon said.
“That’s part of the job and responsibility as a playmaker and that one will sting, but he’s got to dust himself off pretty quick and look forward to the next moment.
“It’s going to shape him, he’s got to go through it, it’s part of it – the responsibility – and he’s accepting that far better (these days).
“He’s been stung before and carried his divots a little bit, but I feel like the last couple of weeks – he acknowledges them.
“It’ll sting, of course it’s going to sting. But I feel like he’s ready to keep going after the moments, he didn’t shy away from it, he put himself in position, but yeah he’s got to ice it.”
Sharks skipper Cameron McInnes said he offered words of encouragement to Hynes after the match.
“I just said he’s our guy, he’s our man, we’re all behind him, we’ll do great things with him leading us and nothing has changed. That’s what I said to him,” McInnes said.
Bulldogs captain Stephen Crichton, who was picked alongside Hynes for the Origin opener, sympathised with the halfback and predicted he will bounce back.
“His next few weeks are going to be big for him,” Crichton said.
“He’s probably the only guy who can bring him out of this and bring his team out of this, but those top calibre players can do that so there’s no doubt he’ll come back bigger and better, work on his game and he’ll be back firing.”