The Cronulla Sharks reportedly want to make Nicho Hynes a deal that will be too good to refuse when he begins to weigh up his future.
The Sharks' star is off-contract at the end of 2024, having originally signed a three-year deal with the Sharks to move from the Melbourne Storm ahead of 2022.
It was 2022 which made Hynes the household name he has quickly become, winning the Dally M Medal and rubber-stamping his ability as one of the competition's best halfbacks during a season where he also led the Sharks to the semi-finals after a second-placed finish.
The Sharks, who currently have Hynes on a deal believed to be around $600,000 per season, are willing to put a four-year, $3.5 million on the table as his next deal according to News Corp, but club chairman Steve Mace believes Hynes will become a Shark for life.
“We want Nicho at the club for the rest of his playing career and after football as well,” Sharks chairman Steve Mace told the publication.
“On and off the field he is what our DNA is all about.
“When the time is right we will sit down and have the conversation around a long-term deal.”
The 26-year-old reportedly would have already commenced talks over his future if not for an off-field family situation he is currently dealing with.
The star played 25 games in his first year for the Sharks, adding to the 36 games he played for the Melbourne Storm since his debut in 2019.
In those 25 games at the Sharks, he managed six tries, 21 try assists and 21 forced drop outs, to go with almost 380 kicking metres per game, 117 running metres per game, 36 offloads and a conversion rate with the goal-kicking boots of just below 75 per cent.
It was a season which shook off all the doubters after his move from Melbourne suggesting he couldn't play in the seven, or would struggle away from the Storm system, and he will now reap the rewards of that as he negotiates his next deal.
It's unclear if Hynes will be a lock to stay at the Sharks though, with other clubs likely to be interested in the star halfback. Zero Tackle's contract data analysis reveals that of the top halves - at either six or seven - only the likes of Tom Dearden, Jarome Luai, Jamal Fogarty, Ezra Mam, Adam Reynolds and Chad Townsend are due to come off-contract at the end of 2024, and it's a group that Hynes, on relative ability, sits well in front of.
The Sharks too could be in that market for a five-eighth pending the future of Matt Moylan, who is also off-contract at the end of 2024, while the club will be looking to add more parts around Hynes after his almost one-man team style performance during 2022 where a record number of Dally M Medal votes were recorded.