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New Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon has lifted the lid on his plans for star recruit Nicho Hynes as he opened up on why he decided to leave the Roosters to become an NRL head coach.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Fitzgibbon and the Sharks signed the former Storm fullback as a half and won’t rule out playing him in the No.7 jersey in 2022.
“A lot of people wouldn’t know, but Nicho has only just started playing fullback in the last 12 to 18 months,” Fitzgibbon told The Herald.
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“He actually grew up as a half, and he’s been a half most of his life. We signed him as a half.
“What that looks like? I’m not sure. I haven’t even watched a training session with our existing halves, but competition for spots makes everything competitive.”
The Sharks have veteran Matt Moylan and exciting youngster Luke Metcalf as options at No.6 with Braydon Trindall the club’s only experienced first grade halfback after the departures of Chad Townsend and Shaun Johnson.
With William Kennedy arguably the Sharks’ best player at fullback last season, Hynes’ most obvious position looks to be at No.7 alongside Moylan or Metcalf.
Fitzgibbon stressed he would be basing the Sharks’ game plan around Hynes’ strengths no matter what number is on his back.
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“We’ve got four really good halves on our books,” Fitzgibbon said.
“We need to complement a style that makes Nicho look the same way he did this year because he’s pretty exciting.
“If he wears No.7 or No.6, I’m not going to change the way he plays.
“We need to complement the way he plays to make sure he can be strong, and the team around him can be strong as well.”
Fitzgibbon also opened up on what attracted him to the opportunity of becoming an NRL head coach with the Sharks after years of turning back opportunities to continue his role as an assistant at the Roosters under Trent Robinson.
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“I never really got too serious investigating any opportunity because of a couple of reasons,” Fitzgibbon explained.
“Number one, I didn’t feel like I was ready. The role is not to be taken lightly and anyone who has jumped in too soon has been chewed up and spat out pretty quickly.
“I felt like I needed to be 100 per cent I was ready to coach.
“Second of all, I wanted to fit a club and walk into a position where I thought I could represent the club well and the club represents what I’m about.
“I don’t just want to be a coach, I want to win. I felt like the club was in a position, in a number of ways, that made it attractive.”
In a nice piece of sporting symmetry Fitzgibbon’s father Allan coached the Sharks from 1988 to 1991 and while he is honoured for his family to come full circle with the Cronulla club, he wanted to make sure his decision was not based around that alone.
“There’s an element of nostalgia there that is hard to ignore,” Fitzgibbon said.
“There were a number of elements that helped my decision, but I also needed to be sure I wasn’t taking a position on nostalgia.
“Once I made that decision, that weight kind of left me and now it’s been nothing other than excitement and enthusiasm going forward.”
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