Secret’s out: $300k breakout star to spark feeding frenzy
Let’s not kid ourselves, the pressure on Nicho Hynes won’t suddenly disappear on the back of the Sharks’ 26-18 win over the Cowboys.If anything, it just takes it up a notch.
Not only does Hynes now have to go head-to-head with the NRL’s Ice Man, Nathan Cleary.
But Hynes would now be feeling the heat from within more than ever before given Braydon Trindall’s breakout performance against the Cowboys.
The reality is Trindall now has the potential to cause an absolute feeding frenzy when November 1 arrives, and players off contract at the end of next season hit the open market.
And that is only going to put the blowtorch further on Hynes no matter how anyone, including everyone at the Sharks, wants to deny it.
I wrote last week and I’ll say it again, it’s astonishing to think Trindall is now the Sharks’ chief playmaker but is on considerably less than half of the $1 million-a-season salary Cronulla is paying Hynes.
Some reports suggest Trindall is currently on about $300,000.
If that is even close to the truth, Trindall’s management would have to view this as a serious pay discrepancy.
And while the under-fire Hynes was solid if not spectacular in the win over the Cowboys, Trindall’s performance was as close to a 10 out of 10 that you will ever witness from even the game’s elite playmakers.
If it was Cleary, Sam Walker, Daly Cherry-Evans, Jahrome Hughes, Mitchell Moses or Adam Reynolds, we’d be waxing lyrical about it all week.
So heading into Saturday’s blockbuster preliminary final showdown against the Panthers, it means Trindall has positioned himself perfectly in the NRL shop front window ahead of November 1.
Factor in even though he’s out injured young Walker is pushing for between $1.2m and $1.4m a season at the Roosters moving forward.
It certainly puts in context why Trindall’s price tag could go through the roof if the 25-year-old can reproduce his form going up against the dynamic duo of Cleary and Jarome Luai.
Whatever the result you can expect the Sharks are going to have to dig deep to retain Trindall beyond 2025.
Don’t forget Hynes is contracted until the end of 2029.
Can the Sharks afford to keep both players if Trindall is to be paid what he is worth, and if one has to go, who should it be?
Andrew Johns even said over the weekend Trindall “would be up around the $900,000 (a-season) for sure” given the lack of elite halves up for grabs.
With 70 NRL games now under his belt, Trindall is approaching that point in his career where traditionally the great playmakers go to the next level.
It would make him exactly the player you’d imagine a club like the Dragons would go hard for if it turns out Ben Hunt makes an early exit.
He’d also be a great fit for Joey’s Newcastle Knights who are desperate to find a playmaker to relieve some of the pressure off superstar fullback Kalyn Ponga.
Throw in any number of other clubs including the Broncos, Bulldogs and Titans.
In fairness to Craig Fitzgibbon, he’s been predicting for some time that Trindall was a player of immense talent.
But it’s safe to say the NRL’s best kept secret is now well and truly out.
Secret’s out: $300k breakout star to spark feeding frenzy; Mal’s No.1 headache — Crawls
Secret’s out: $300k breakout star to spark feeding frenzy; Mal’s No.1 headache — Crawls
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