Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon is backing Nicho Hynes to emerge stronger from a month in "uncharted territory" that culminated in his controversial axing from the NSW State of Origin side.
Hynes has been one of the form players of the NRL for the past two seasons but the Sharks captain's Origin debut in Game I kickstarted a turbulent few weeks.
Hynes was underused and then defensively exposed at Adelaide Oval and on his return to the NRL, the Sharks lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Brad Fittler dropped Hynes from the NSW side following last week's 54-10 capitulation against Melbourne, a selection decision that sparked debate given the reigning Dally M Medallist's limited opportunities on debut.
The scrutiny has been a first for Hynes, who enjoyed a successful three-year stint as a utility with the Storm before joining Cronulla last year.
But Hynes has impressed Fitzgibbon by dusting himself off ahead of Sunday's clash with Canterbury.
"He's walked in, accepted the decision," the coach said.
"Firstly, he's a Shark. This week, that's all we're focused on, is Nicho and being a Shark and playing with the Sharks. Origin's not on anyone's mind around here at the moment.
"He responds to good challenges, Nicho, and he's had a couple. It's probably some uncharted territory for him.
"(But) it's also part of his development. He's been a leader of the team for a year-and-a-half now so it's another lesson and he's learned that."
Fitzgibbon believed Hynes needed to look for the silver lining in his Origin cameo.
"Nicho's done incredibly well in the space of the short career that he's had to put himself into that frame," he said.
"It's a positive that his footy has got him close to that area."
Fitzgibbon defended his call to stick with the side that lost to Melbourne as the talented Braydon Trindall and Connor Tracey continue to toil away in reserve grade.
"We're trying to build, not change," he said.
"Obviously having a painful lesson like that, we haven't experienced it too often. That was a first for us, actually. (It's) back to basics and back to some homework during the week.
"Performances like that obviously put some players on notice but there's trust in the crew we have.
"There's some guys playing some strong footy that are putting pressure on some players in the team, I think that's healthy competition."
The Sharks named Toby Rudolf in the reserves to face Canterbury but the prop will require more time on the sidelines before playing his first game since round five.
"He's back training with the team, Toby, but it's all happened a bit too quick for him," Fitzgibbon said.
"It was an extended period off with a toe injury so there's not a whole heap of field work he did there. We threw him out there to see how he'd go but he's not quite right."
