{"id":400475,"date":"2024-06-06T08:21:18","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T08:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=400475"},"modified":"2024-06-06T13:05:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T13:05:16","slug":"hynes-finds-unlikely-ally-as-scapegoat-talks-arise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=400475","title":{"rendered":"Hynes finds unlikely ally as 'scapegoat' talks arise"},"content":{"rendered":"

N\ufefficho Hynes<\/a> has found an unlikely ally after his disappointing performance in the State of Origin opener, with the halfback fighting for his spot in the NSW Blues<\/a> team.<\/p>\n

After being dropped last year following a disastrous cameo off the bench, Hynes returned to the Origin arena on Wednesday night in the side's 38-10 loss.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old wasn't the only player to struggle against the Maroons, who took full advantage of the Blues being down to 12 men after Joseph Suaalii was sent off.<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Nine axed, skipper gone in shake-up Blues need<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Djokovic legend tested as surgery details revealed<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Vice-captain brutally axed in Maroons reshuffle<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

However, the pressure is now mounting on Hynes to retain his spot and in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a>, his opposing No.7 defended the Sharks superstar.<\/p>\n

\"Not<\/p>\n

"Nicho was extremely competitive and he worked so hard out there," Queensland captain and halfback Daly Cherry-Evans<\/a> said. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"He took his opportunities with the ball, and he obviously got put in some really unfamiliar positions as well as a defender and that's not easy.<\/p>\n

"I hope to see him back there doing his best because he's earned that spot. I do have a soft spot for him. I hope he goes well and doesn't get scapegoated or anything.<\/p>\n

"He'll bounce back. He's a resilient bugger, and he's learned a lot."<\/p>\n

Cherry-Evans earned man of the match honours for his classy display at Accor Stadium, while a host of his teammates starred to take a crucial 1-0 series lead.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 State of Origin series exclusively live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hynes on the other hand failed to lift to the occasion and his kicking game was widely scrutinised, despite landing one cross-field bomb for Zac Lomax<\/a> to score a try.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The recent return of Mitchell Moses<\/a> and the looming presence of Matt Burton has placed Hynes under immense pressure to keep his spot and NSW's greatest-ever halfback admitted there was a big selection decision coming for Michael Maguire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

"It's going to be a big decision for Madge,"\ufeff Andrew Johns said on Nine.<\/p>\n

"Mitchell Moses and James Tedesco played a lot of footy together as young fellas, they debuted together at the Tigers. It probably depends on how Michael Maguire sees his team attacking and how they're going to play in Melbourne."<\/p>\n

Maguire refused to comment on Hynes' future in the team<\/a> during his post-game press conference, but the coach hardly endorsed the Cronulla playmaker for game two. \ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

N\ufefficho Hynes has found an unlikely ally after his disappointing performance in the State of Origin opener, with the halfback fighting for his spot in […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":400477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400475"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=400475"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":400480,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400475\/revisions\/400480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/400477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=400475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=400475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=400475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}