In a terrible blow to the Cronulla Sharks, Nicho Hynes will undergo surgery and miss an estimated 8 weeks after suffering a complete complete syndesmosis rupture, plus a tibia fracture to his left ankle.
The injury occurred during Cronulla Sharks training and comes on the back of a few rough weeks of football for Hynes, whose performance in Game One of the 2024 State Of Origin series was very poor, and with some below par games following that for the Sharks.
If Hynes only manages to miss 8 weeks, he would come back with just one game left in the NRL regular season. That would be a big ask to head into the NRL finals series with just one game under his belt after a leg injury that required surgery.
The Cronulla Sharks currently sit in 4th place on the NRL ladder, and are only 4 competition points ahead of 9th and 10th places teams the Newcastle Knights and St George/Illawarra Dragons.
While the loss of Hynes alone shouldn’t see the Sharks slip out of the finals race, a few other injuries could make it a tough slog as other clubs battle to take their place in the top 8.
Helping them will be the draw, with the Sharks only facing two teams currently in the top 8 over their remaining 8 games. They also have a bye round in there to boot!