Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon insists Nicho Hynes will have nothing to prove in his first game since being dropped by NSW for State of Origin II.
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One of five casualties from the game-one loss, Hynes watched on as his replacement Mitch Moses was named player of the match for inspiring a 38-18 mauling that levelled the series in Wednesday night's second game.
Hynes has been open about how a tough Origin debut and subsequent axing rocked his confidence last season.
But Fitzgibbon said there would be no pressure on Hynes in Friday's clash with Canterbury, especially not after Moses' masterclass against Queensland at the MCG.
"He's got nothing to prove, not at all," the coach said.
"Mitchell Moses last night was fantastic and you'd probably assume prior to the first game, if Mitchell was fit, they probably would've went that way anyway. He proved that right last night.
"Nicho's got to get back to getting his Sharks hat on and going for that."
Cronulla's clash with the resurgent Bulldogs also marks Hynes' first game since the loss to the Dolphins before the bye, when he missed a sideline conversion that could have sent the game to extra time.
After the round-15 defeat, Fitzgibbon said the miss would be "tough" on Hynes, but he felt his halfback had since shrugged off any disappointment.
"I feel like you guys (the media) are really worried about whether he's worried about it," he said.
"The 22 unanswered points in the first half (against the Dolphins) was the biggest issue, not the last goal kick that could have tied the game.
"As a goal-kicker, of course Nicho would pride himself on his kicking percentages.
"But as for an issue with him that you guys are constantly asking about, he's OK.
"He's walked in bubbly, he's doing OK and he wants to get back to playing good footy for the Sharks."
Braden Hamlin-Uele's bout of the flu is the only thing standing between Cronulla and a fully fit top-30 roster as second-rower Teig Wilton recovers from a shoulder issue and prepares to face the Bulldogs.
The Sharks are also one of only four sides who did not lose any players to selection in Origin II, another boon as the competition heats up.
But Fitzgibbon wants to see the Sharks nail the basics and start strongly following a middling month before the bye; after losing only once in the first 11 rounds, the Sharks have dropped three of their past four games.
"We missed the kick in all those games with multiple back-field errors, penalties, just the fundamentals of good, hard footy that we weren't doing earlier in the year," he said.
"Painful lessons, of course, and momentum's hard to address at the moment. We didn't do a good job with that, either."
Australian Associated Press
